Here We Go Again
by Monkey and Music Lover
Summary: Baseball is an easy sport to follow. 1st strike, 2nd strike, and then 3rd strike you're OUT. Is this true in real life too though? They messed it up in Michigan, missed their chance in Princeton, will they strike out or will it be third times the charm?
1. A New Game Begins

**Disclaimer: I do not in any way shape or size or form own House....... just yet xD**

**A/N: Alright yeah I know I have enough stories up, but I couldn't resist, I already had this up on another site so I decided to share it here. XD I wanna get in the habit of writing it more and I usually do that more on Fanfiction lol. Don't worry this won't effect the other stories, I will still write those very often and if I update this story, most likely I updated another story the same day, I won't spend ALL my energy focusing on this, but I have alot of idea out already. lol. Anyways, thanks to** Not - lupus . everybody - lies** for being a fabulous beta and editing so quickly, also for helping me come up with the summary, she got skillz XD haha. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy and sorry for any OOC-ness, oh and this is set in the future about.... 7 years? lol ENJOY!!**

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She stared up at the large building and sighed. It was her first day of her new job and she wasn't sure how it was going to be. This was her first new job in the last 13 years and she had no idea what made her even apply. As she went forward to enter she read the words printed on the door that read "Boston Downtown Hospital." She took one deep breath before entering.

'_Here I go,'_ she thought. She walked about until she found where her future boss had requested that they meet. As she opened the door to an over large classroom she saw that she wasn't the only one there. The room was filled with 50, maybe more, doctors all sitting around chatting. All waiting for the boss to come and tell them what was going on.

She walked in and sat in a random seat feeling somewhat awkward. A male doctor turned around and flashed a big grin at her. She swore she saw his teeth twinkle.

"Hello there," The other doctor greeted her, "Why are you here?"

She looked at him like he was a complete and utter idiot, which she assumed he was, but she decided to be nice and converse with the somewhat desperate man. "I'm here for a job, like you." She told him. After being in the room for less than five minutes she realized that they all might be there to be interviewed in person like herself.

"Really? Me too." He said a little too happily.

She had decided that she was right. He was a complete and utter idiot, but as long as she was there she at least wanted someone to talk to. "You don't say." She tries not to sound sarcastic or roll her eyes. She puts on her best smile and sticks her hand out. "I'm Cuddy, Lisa Cuddy, and you are?" She asked.

"Michael, Daniel Michael." He said flashing another smile and shaking her hand a little too enthusiastically for her taste.

After ten minutes of talking to several other doctors a man finally walks in and calls everyone's attention. She turned front and center and her stomach dropped the second she saw her boss. She recognized him too easily and she tried her best to hide her face as non-obviously as possible. She averted her gaze and kept away from any eye contact.

"Hello Minions," He greeted them all, "I am Dr. Greg House, but just call me House or lord or god – which ever you prefer." She rolled her eyes, he hadn't changed at all. "You are all obviously confused on why I need so many employees, well I don't. I have summoned you all here not because of your resume, cause seriously you can just lie on those, but because you are all actually stupid enough to apply." He walked around and surveyed the room quickly. He noticed one minion hiding and suddenly became curious. "Now if some of you don't like it when I insult you or can't take sarcasm, I dare you to just get up and leave." He looked at the mystery person seeing if she'd get up and leave, and much to his surprise she didn't, though some people did leave. "Adios." He told them. "Now—" before he could continue someone burst through the door.

"House!!" A screeching woman screamed, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Cuddy mentally chuckled remembering about 9 years ago she yelling at House for pulling the same trick. She recognized the anger, irritation and ignorance the woman had. She kept her eyes on the female boss instead of House.

"Why hello Dr. Walters. I'm just doing what you specifically asked me to do." He smiled at her a very familiar smile. Cuddy caught a glance of the smile and her heart sank. It was _the_ smile. The same one that he gave her whenever he flirted with her and her heart ached seeing that he was now giving it to his new boss. She felt as if she could just die.

"No! I asked you to hire three," she held up three fingers, "See three – one, two, three – employees, not 50!!"

House rolled his eyes and looked at the crowd. "Row E and D leave!" He ordered.

Cuddy looked at what row she was and thanked god graciously that he called away her row. She got up and collected her stuff, trying not to show her face to House as she was about to leave. He turned to watch who was leaving and suddenly yelled, "Wait! No…row D and A leave, you all seem like kiss ups. Row E stay put."

Cuddy negated and swore as she took her seat once more. She prayed that his new boss would tell him to excuse one more row but her hope was in worthless.

"House," Walters said in a threatening voice, "If you _dare_ mess anything up I will make sure that it's on your head!" She told him and walked away.

Cuddy stole one more glance of House and saw that he was staring at his boss' swaying butt and she felt her insides explode. She tried not to cry and took a breath remembering the one thing that made her resent him over the years. When the tears faded and she had control of her emotions once more she turned her attention to the door closing.

"Well isn't she a peach?" House asked sarcastically, "That is _my_ boss and if you have any problems with me make sure to bring it to her, got it?" No one said anything and House took that as a yes. "Alright my minions," He turned on a projector, "This is Karen Carpenter, a famous singer in the 1970s who died from—"

"House!" A male yelled.

House sighed, "I'm so popular." He told everyone before turning to the male, "What do you want?"

"I have a case for you," The man said. House looked at him with a cocked eye brow as if saying 'go on'. "Vomiting, headache, and nausea, she's 45 years old and no she isn't pregnant and it's not an infection because we started her on antibiotics and she isn't getting better."

Everyone stayed silent as House turned around to face them. "Well any suggestions?" No one said anything and House sighed and rolled his eyes. Cuddy looked around, same as House. "Maybe I should have read your resumes."

Cuddy sighed and decided to speak up. "It could be a brain tumor," She said reluctantly. She had her hand raised getting his attention. She knew he'd see her sooner or later and maybe the sooner he did the sooner he'd fire her so she could go on with her life.

House turned to the familiar voice and his heart nearly stopped. He stared at her, she looked radiant. The years have truly done her justice. He couldn't believe that he was seeing her right then, could he be dreaming? Maybe this was a nightmare. He came out of his daze and cleared his throat. "And how do you propose we check for that?" He tested her.

Cuddy sat up straighter and let go of all her emotional feelings. She went into complete professional mode and answered, "We could do an MRI or CT and then once we find it we could do a WBRT." Everyone was suddenly watching her.

"Now, can you do it yourself, or do you need help with that?" House challenged her. "I'm sure you haven't been a _real_ doctor for a few years and have had someone else doing it for you." Everyone now looked at him.

Cuddy thinned her lips and set her jaw. She sat up straighter than before and accepted his challenge. "I'm perfectly fine with doing the test _and_ treatment myself. I have never gotten my license revoked." She glared. Everyone was now looking at her. "I haven't gotten shot by any angry patients. I've never been stupid enough to be held at gun point as a hostage, got the gun away from the patient and known to give it back to him. Oh, and I don't get sued after every patient I treat." Everyone stared gaping at her.

"You were stupid enough to let go of your most valuable employee and almost lose custody of your demon spawn," He responded, suddenly coldhearted. Everyone turned to him. "That is why you applied for a job here isn't it? You got fired, or quit, your old pathetic uneventful job and they threaten to take away the demon you call your baby and so you needed to find a new job and applied for any position you could find. I'm right, aren't I?"

Cuddy controlled her emotions and tried not to let him see her cry, again. "You can go to hell." She said picking her things and heading toward the back door.

"You know, you used that line over a hundred times, I'm not there yet." He stated as she got closer to do the door. "Put your stuff down and go give the patient an MRI, take numbers 11 and 15 with you. If you don't find anything you're fired. That is, unless your actually willing to lose Rachel and quit now."

Cuddy froze with her hand on the door handle. She clutched her fist in anger and sighed. She turned back around, glaring at her new boss. She forcefully dropped her things on her desk, effectively letting out a loud BANG which echoed through the quiet room. She walked toward the door while the other applicants quickly jumped out of their seats and rushed behind Cuddy. She looked at House, if only looks could kill. She walked out angrily and went to fulfill her boss's order.

House let out a small smirk and turned to see everyone still watching in shock. "The rest of you," He addressed them. "Go out and clean my car," He turned and looked at the other doctor, who stood next to him staring at him in shock and confusion. "Oh and clean Billy-boy's car too." He told them. "Now come on Vinson, you're buying me lunch." He walked out with his colleague. This was going to be a long game.

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**Well there you have it, the end of the first chapter. Watcha think, huh... I know your thinking something... I know you wanna tell me xD haha as usually please review, they are all read and very appriciated. If you have questions or request I answer and try to fullfill them all lol. So yeah you get the point lol, please review! I hope you all liked it and again sorry for any OOC-ness**

**-**Jess


	2. Daddy!

**Disclaimer: I do not own House**

**A/N: I'd like to give a special thanks to my last minute, temporary Beta **lenasti16 **for editing this last minute and giving me some input. I'd also love to thank all my readers and reviews for revewing this story and giving me so much encouragement. I MIGHT not be posting super soon b/c I just saw the new House promo and suddenly am depressed Well anyways, sorry for any OOC and I hope you all like it! Please review!**

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Cuddy sat by the computers monitoring the patient. Numbers 11 and 15 stared at her in admiration and amazement. She sighed and attempted to ignore them. They continued to stare at her and after another moment she surrendered. She turned in her chair and faced them with a cocked eyebrow. "Can I help you?"

"Did you know Doctor House?" Fifteen asked her. Cuddy rolled her eyes and gave her the 'are you really asking that' look. She sighed and looked down embarrassed.

"So uh, why'd you fire him?" Eleven asked leaning back in his chair, acting sly and cool. He saw Cuddy looked down in sadness.

Cuddy looked up at her colleague as she sat up straighter, trying not think about what had happened three years ago and before she could answer she saw that the MRI had finished. She sent the other applicants to get the patient out while she read over the MRI. Then something struck her, there was no tumor. Number Fifteen and Eleven saw her stumped looked and walked over looking at her curiously. They looked at the MRI and were both shocked to see it completely clear.

It suddenly hit Cuddy, like a brick to the wall, when she looked at the file again. She groaned as she rolled her eyes in anger. "That son of a bitch," She murmured under her breath. The two other applicants looked at her in inquisitiveness. "He was playing us. Look at the date, this case was solved a week ago. Damn it, we fell for his game." She went on. "He was probably trying to find out who the idiots were and fire them. He's most likely watching us right now. I feel like an idiot!" She held her forehead.

Fifteen stood there embarrassed as eleven threw the MRI on the table in anger. Their attention was diverged when they heard a noise coming from the side of the table. Cuddy looked and found a speaker strapped to it. She ripped it free angrily, tried not slamming it on the table and turning up the volume.

"Good job Detective Cuddles!" They heard House say over the speaker. "You figured out my plot, thought I'm a little disappointed how long it took you to find out. I mean I thought you really knew me, Cuddy-kins." House went on. "It hurts." When he heard no response he turned half serious and said, "Three of you get over to the lecture room so we could play the elimination game."

Cuddy walked in first, pushing the door angrily and sat in her chair crossing her legs waiting for her boss to enter. She sat with her arms crossed across her chest as House and the other employees all filed in. Cuddy sent him a glare. He gave her a smirk.

"So you figured it out, eh Cuddles?" House asked as he dully scanned the file. "I expected you to figure it out sooner." He just got a glare from her and his smirk got bigger. "If you haven't learned yet, your piercing glares of terror don't scare me, nor do they kill me. So I suggest you tuck away the daggers."

Cuddy sighed and rolled her eyes. "Just get the game over with House, its lunch time and we're all hungry." She told him. "It may shock you, but you aren't the only one who gets hungry and some of us have places to be."

House smiled and shook his head as he stepped towards her. "You don't get it do you, Cuddles." House began. "This is where you need to be. No where else. Now unless you want to be a horrible mother that we all know you are and lose the spawn you call your daughter I suggest you pipe down." House gauged her for a reaction.

Cuddy looked at him dully. "Is that all? Hmm, I thought you might have something that might actually hurt. Personally, that one is getting pretty old, House," She stated leaning back in her chair. "I guess the infamous, heartless, cold, bastard, and son of a bitch Dr. House finally lost his edge." She smiled. "Or was that your edge? You thought that just be criticizing my parenting styles I will immediately fall to your whim crying."

House stared at her for a moment. Then when a serious tone he stated, "You don't even care anymore if someone calls you a horrible mother." If she wanted a jackass she was going to get one. "You don't care if someone says that your daughter belongs with another family, hmm, wow Cuddy you have actually turned into the worse kind of mother there is. One that doesn't care and I thought you got over that when Rachel was a baby. Damn, I feel pity for the demon spawn. She has a mother who doesn't care."

That actually got Cuddy. She sent him a scowl and her nostrils flared up in anger. Though it was immediately replaced with a look of hurt and sadness that he haunted him everyday. She bit the bottom of lip, urging herself not to show House weakness. Once she got her emotions in check and sat up straight and continued to glare at House waiting for him to dismiss them.

"Numbers 12, 18, 19, 11, 26, 32, 6, 5 and Cuddles can all go to lunch. The rest of you can leave, thanks for playing the short game." House stated dully not taking his eyes off Cuddy.

House held himself back from looking compassionate as he watched Cuddy stand up weakly and head towards the door. He stared at the floor before following her out and heading towards the cafeteria to watch his employees interact. He walked down the corridors deep in thought as the look on Cuddy's face stayed glued in his mind. He had only seen it once before and it hadn't been erased from his mind from the first time. He was quickly pulled out of his thoughts though from the sound of his name.

"House," She called from the end of the hall. He turned and waited as his boss took quick strides towards him. "What the hell were you thinking," She asked angrily. "You solved this case last week and she was recovering. Do you know how frightened she was when some new doctors asked to give her an MRI?" She scolded.

House rolled his eyes. "She's fine," He stated dully. "They told her that she was clear so she has nothing to worry about and it's not like we tried to perform surgery on her again. She had not—"

House was interrupted by a yell coming down the hall. He and Walters turned to see a seven year old girl with a twinkle in her eye run towards House quickly. He quickly recognized the girl and suppressed a smile as she ran up and held onto his leg possessively.

"Daddy," The girl exclaimed happily as a grin glued to her face. House pretended to be confused and looked at the girl in confusion. The girl continued to smile and snuggle into his leg. "We found you daddy, now mommy can stop crying." House's face suddenly turned serious at the girl's statement.

"Rachel," Their attention was taken once more.

Walters saw Cuddy running towards the girl quickly with an older woman behind. Cuddy stood in front of House and reached down for the girl on his pants, but she refused and hid behind House's leg. Cuddy looked down at the girl irritated and worn-out.

"Rachel Cuddy," She said sternly tired of the drivel. "Come out here this instant!" Cuddy commanded in a no nonsense tone.

The girl shook her head and Cuddy looked at her angrily and almost threateningly. That caused Rachel to hide her face more. Cuddy sighed and reached for the girl, but Rachel ran around avoiding Cuddy trying not to get caught. She was afraid of the consequence her mother had prepared for her.

"Daddy," The girl cried reaching up for House who, without hesitation, picked her up out of habit. Rachel hid her face in his shoulder and let a few frightened tears fall. "Save me from mommy." She begged. "She never gets mad after you talk to her."

Walters looked at them as her mouth hung open putting two and two together. House and Cuddy ignored her as Rachel continued to cause a scene. Cuddy glared at House as she gently took Rachel from him and rubbed her back trying to calm her down.

"Shh, Rachel," Cuddy whispered softly. "Mommy is not going to hurt you. She is just upset that you ran off when she wasn't looking and that you were running away from her." She reassured the frightened girl. She rarely got mad at Rachel and the worse she's done so far was take away her teddy bear for an hour.

"Frightening children, eh Cuddy?" House couldn't control his mouth. "I'm surprise they gave you a chance to keep the spawn." House stated and instantaneously received a glare from Cuddy for saying that in front of Rachel.

Cuddy was about to tell him off when she heard Rachel giggle. Rachel got off her mother's shoulder and began to laugh energetically at House's joke. She always knew when House was joking and sometimes it seemed she got him more than anyone he's ever met.

"You're still funny daddy," The girl giggled as her mother continued to bounce her up and down. "I really missed your jokes, daddy," The girl stated, oblivious to the fact that her mother was shooting House a glare saying 'you got lucky.'

"Rachel, sweetie, let's leave mommy and…" Cuddy's mother stuttered thinking of what to call House. "Daddy," She chose eyeing House closely. "Alone to work and when mommy gets home you can bake cookies for daddy for tomorrow." She immediately got a glare from her daughter.

"Have I ever told you I loved your mother, Cuddy?" House smiled behind her. He didn't get a respond, she kept her back to him and he was okay with that. It gave him a chance to see if she had changed much.

Cuddy's mother smiled at House as Rachel agreed and jumped into her grandmother's arms. "Bye daddy," The girl smiled. Before walking off Rachel looked at House lovingly. "I missed you this much," She stretched out her arms.

Rachel's grandmother smiled at her. "We'll get out of your hair now. Good luck," She told Cuddy, knowing that she would need it. "It was nice seeing you again Greg."

"Bye Lauren," House called down the hall. "I'll tell you if, your evil, cookie greedy daughter doesn't give me my special treats tomorrow." He heard her chuckle as she continued down the hall and disappeared through the door.

House and Cuddy finally turned to Walters who continued to look at them with her mouth hanging open. They both raised their eye brows at her asking what could possibly be wrong. Walters seemed to be frozen in her shocked state as she replayed and registered the scene that unfolded mere moments ago.

Walters got out of her state of shock before she finally asked them in an incredulous tone, "You two used to be married?"

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**A/N: Heheh were they married? lol most of your probably know the answer. I hope you all liked this chapter! What do u think so far about Walters and Cuddy's mom (though she only had like three lines) lol. Please review, they are all appreciated.**

**-Jess**


	3. The Cookies

**Disclaimer: I do not own House**

**A/N: I'd like to give a HUGE thanks to my last minute, temporary Beta** Rei **for editing this even though she was very busy. Thanks everyone who reviewed. This story might sound a little angst but it's not. And don't worry Cuddy's attitude is going to change sooner or later. What The Heart Wants will be updated momentarily I already sent it off to get beta-ed. I am almost done with Reunion Catastrophe then I will immediately start on Missing Link. I hope you all like this! Please review and sorry for OOC.**

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Cuddy looked at the woman with wide eyes and as her mouth hung open gaping. She attempted to suppress a laugh at how ridiculous the accusation was. Walters suddenly chuckled a bit and came up with her, own conclusion.

"That would explain how you two are able to stand each other and bicker at the same time." Walters stated objectively. "That would also explain why I saw you look so hurt and jealous when I first came to talk to Dr. House this morning."

Cuddy's mouth dropped lower to the floor at the woman's rationalization. She saw House turn and smirk at Cuddy with a cocked brow. Cuddy snapped out of her state of shock and suddenly held the same confident look she had held while dueling with House that very morning. She straightened her posture, set her jaw and held her head high.

"I was not staring at Dr. House." Cuddy stated firmly, mostly to House. "I was not jealous nor was I hurt." She went on. "Dr. House and I have never had any kind of relationship. The closest we ever got was over thirty years ago and obviously it will never happen again. Dr. House is too immature to even have any intimate connections with anyone and I for one am just not interested."

Walters looked at Cuddy in confusion. "Dr. House is too immature to be intimate?" She restated in a question. "That sounds funny considering he has gone out with a number of women who work here ever since he started." Walters told Cuddy obliviously. "And right now he is currently dating one of the new doctors from Cardiology."

Cuddy's eyes dilated in shock and hurt, but she held herself, knowing that House would attack at the first sign of weakness. She once more put her emotions into a tiny imaginary box and wore her best poker face, which has been perfected over the years. She kept her confident posture and looked House in the eyes as all emotions became void. She took an inaudible deep breath trying to calm her voice before she spoke.

"I stand corrected, Dr. House," She stated simply as it became more difficult to keep her face straight. "I guess you aren't immature and are very able to create deep, meaningful relationships with other people." She had to hurry knowing that she was about to give away her cover. "I'm sorry." She stated quickly with sarcasm as she quickly turned on her heel and walked down the hall to the cafeteria trying to keep her composure until he was completely out of sight.

House stared down after her. He could hear the shakiness in her voice and thought she was getting good at concealing her emotions; he could still see the hurt that had scarred her eyes. No matter how well Cuddy could hide her emotions from anyone else, House always knew how to read her mind and her body language. He was angry at Walters for unveiling the information so freely but was angrier with himself for not stopping her, knowing what was going to come out of her mouth.

After he saw that Cuddy had disappeared through the cafeteria's double doors, he turned around and made his way towards his office. He sat in his chair and dialed a very familiar number. After waiting several seconds someone finally answered and House let a sarcastic smile fall upon his lips.

"Wilson," He exclaimed with false joy. "How have you been?" He asked uninterestedly. Instead of waiting for him to answer, House went on. "Why didn't you warn me the she-devil with a zesty bod was coming to wreak havoc here?"

Wilson leaned sat up straight in his chair and wore a serious face. "Cuddy went there?" He asked rhetorically as he wiped his face with his hand. "We've been trying to find her since she quit a few months ago." House stayed silent waiting for Wilson to give him a few details.

"There was a new chairman of the board about a year after you left. Every move Cuddy made he some how criticized. He told her she dressed inappriopraitely and when she began to dress in power suits he said she was giving the wrong vibe to all the donors and patients. He also told her that she let her emotions get in the way too much and that was one of the reasons they lost their biggest asset. He hated almost everything she did, even if he told her to do it, but never had the board vote to have her terminated. She had put up with his crap for almost two years before she finally had enough of it all." Wilson paused for a moment. "During one of the meetings about four months ago she stood up angrily and told him off then said she quit and rather live in a gutter than follow his damn orders for any longer."

"What about right after I left?" House asked remember the information Rachel had unintentionally told him before her mother came to take her away. He noticed that Wilson had taken a long pause before he considered answering House's question. House heard a loud sigh coming from the other end and quickly realized that that story was going to be a little more complicated.

--

After forcing his fellows to finish all his clinic duty and disappear for over half the day, House finally allowed all his applicants go home. He noticed Cuddy's obvious attempt to disconnect herself from him as she walked out the backdoor and exited the hospital the long way. On his way to his bike he noticed Cuddy's pale, weak skin as she placed her items in her car. How had he not notice this the second he saw her? She turned around and faced him causing them to make eye contact but she quickly turned away from him and got into her car, driving away as quickly as possible. House stood in his spot watching the car disappear as he hopped onto his bike and rode off.

Cuddy had arrived home and was immediately greeted by her daughter jumping into her arms, excited to start baking. She saw her mother walk up and sent her a cold hard glare as she gave her the silent treatment. Cuddy languidly followed her daughter into the kitchen and began to help bake the cookies that they had promised. Rachel set out all the ingredients and began to pour them into the bowl as Cuddy washed her hands.

After half an hour, Cuddy began to mix the cookie dough violently and continued to give her mother the cold shoulder. Lauren finally put down her the cookie sheet she had been putting butter on and looked at her daughter exhaustedly.

"Lisa, you are being immature." Lauren stated causing Cuddy to look at her and lower her glare to a simple furrow of her brows. She noticed her daughter bring her gaze back down at the cookie dough with a sigh. "What's wrong dear?"

"Nothing," Cuddy said stirring the cookie dough with much less energy. She put the bowl down and began to help her daughter pry open the chocolate chip bag. "You don't think a drop of arsenic could kill House on the spot do you?" Lauren gave her daughter an incredulous look of shock and Cuddy held up her hands in defense. "I was just kidding." She stated. "Kinda," She mumbled getting an annoyed glare from her mother.

"Lisa, why are you so upset with Greg, he seems so nice and Rachel loves him so much." Lauren stated unbiased. She actually really enjoyed Greg's company. She liked any man who was honest and didn't sprinkle everything with kindness. Plus, she knew her daughter's crush on him and it took her a while but she figured out why Lisa was so smitten for the older man.

"He's just so," Cuddy began to stir the cookie furiously once more. "He is just a jackass." She looked down to Rachel and saw that the young girl was oblivious to what her mother had just said. Cuddy sighed and gave a quiet thank goodness as she continued to the mix with the chocolate chips now in. "He's just a jerk and arrogant and bossy and…"

"Lisa, maybe he changed." Lauren cut into her long rant.

"Ha!" Cuddy gave a fake laugh. "The man who doesn't believe in change, let alone doesn't believe anyone human can change has changed himself." She rolled her eyes. "Sure mother, that sounds completely rational. Gregory House is a son of a…" She let herself trail off, refusing to cuss in front of her daughter much longer, "Who will never really change."

"Why don't you give him a chance, Lise?" Lauren negotiated, but she knew her attempts were futile. Her daughter was almost as stubborn as House, himself. "Take this opportunity and try to go after him. God knows you have had a crush on that man for the last, what, 30 years it now?" Her mother stated.

Cuddy looked at her mother in pure shock. "Mother, I do not have a crush on that man!" She attempted to hide her blush and look angry instead of embarrassed.

"Oh right, I'm sorry dear," Her mother stated, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she rolled her eyes at her in denial daughter. "You're in love with them man. Please forgive my mistake." She crossed her arms and leaned against the island table.

Cuddy rolled her eyes and scoffed at her mother's accusation. "Mom, I think you've truly gone crazy now," She gave Rachel the mixer and plugged it in as she begged to try. "I had a _crush_ on him in college. That was thirty years ago. It's never going to happen ever again."

Lauren stayed quiet knowing her daughter was about to ramble on and prove her point somewhere along the way. "I mean yeah he was smart and a genius and that's why I thought he was cool and that's why I might have had a small crush on him but I see him for what he really is now." Cuddy paused to ponder how to say the next part carefully. "He's…" She thought of words appropriate to say in front of her daughter. "Mean, narcissistic, egotistic, big headed, arrogant, annoying, and cold hearted…" She bit her lip and counted to ten as she felt a cuss about to pass through her lips. "Man."

Lauren opened her mouth to say but was immediately interrupted by her daughter's rambling speech. "I mean sure, he's a world renown diagnostician and yeah we _used_ to have some chemistry and hey I'll admit I used to like him, but not anymore." She was starting to restate everything she had said before. "And even if I did like him…"

Lauren saw her daughter's face turn grim and heard the solemn tone pass out of Cuddy's mouth. Cuddy cleared her throat and shook her head. She looked at her mother dully and gave a weak smile. "It wouldn't matter. He has a girlfriend, like I said we _used_ to have chemistry." She shrugged and let out a deep breath. "It wouldn't work anyway; I need a man I can rely on—"

"Now Lisa, don't you dare hide behind your daughter again," Lauren scolded. "He is a man you can rely on everyday, he proved that years ago. Now maybe if you gave him another chance he can prove again."

"Mother," Cuddy began her speech, but was immediately interrupted when cookie dough her on the cheek.

Lauren and Lisa turned to Rachel who looked shyly as she accidentally spilled the cookie dough everywhere. The two older women began to laugh, making Rachel smile, and tasted the cookie dough that had hit them. Cuddy took the mixer and shut it off before a bigger mess was made. Lauren took what little cookie dough was left and baked it before starting her famous double chocolate chip cookies to make up for the lost.

After Cuddy had cleaned her daughter of cookie dough and wiped whatever hit her she tucked her daughter in saying that mistakes happen and not to worry. She turned out the light before heading back to the kitchen after smelling her mother's cookies. She smiled as she took one of the cookies and greedily began to eat it.

"You know what," Lauren began causing her daughter to give her a questioning look. "Gregory was right; you are a cookie greedy daughter." She stated jokily making her daughter smile as she continued to eat the cookies. "What happened to your sugar diet?"

Cuddy swallowed before she spoke. "Hey I loved your cookies before he even found out about them so I automatically get first dibs. And second off, my sugar diet does not apply to these cookies because they were made with love not sugar." Cuddy stated as she took another one.

Lauren laughed at her daughter as she took out a fresh batch. She immediately put it in a plastic container to hide from her daughter and let it sit to the counter next to her to cool. She kept her eye on it making sure Cuddy wouldn't take one. She had to slap her daughter's hand away several times before she finally gave up and said she was going to bed after looking at something on her computer. Lauren covered the container and put it in the middle of the island table. If only her daughter would admit her feelings as fast as she gave up trying to steal the cookies. Maybe then everything would be easier.

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**A/N: Hehe, will Cuddy really deliever the cookies? Hahaha I'd love to try them!! Sorry to disappoint some of you about the marriage. Like I said my stories SHOULD be updated in that sequence. If it's not... hmmm something weird happened. LOL I've been on a writing spree almost all weekend and week. I hoped you all liked it and sorry again for any OOCness. :D Next chapter we should be learning a little bit about Vinson or Walters maybe House's girlfriend, but like Lucas, she is only temporary. Thanks for reading. Please review and if you have request or ideas please tell me. **

-Jess


	4. Green Monster

**Disclaimer: I do not own House**

**A/N: Alright special thanks to **Southern Cowgirl** and** not - lupus . everybody - lies** for reading over the chapter after I spent an hour editing XD haha. I am so slow when it comes to MY stories. XD Thanks to everyone who reviewed to the last chapter for the all the encouragement. I'd also like to thank everyone who added me or my story to their favorites and/or alerts. I encourage you guys to review too :D If you don't read ML or haven't read the news on my profile I'll be trying to update EVERYDAY for my week break. I tried to update this sooner but well I couldn't find a beta so I tried myself lol. Sorry for any OOCness, and there is a little in here, and I hope you all like it!**

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House leaned back in his chair as he waited for the last of his employees to come in. He had his girlfriend, Sarah, on his lap as she giggled and got several incredulous looks from some employees, not believing that he was actually dating someone who looked like Sarah.

Sarah had a well built body. She worked out everyday for at least an hour at the hospital gym. She was in her mid thirties and looked like she was only in her late twenties. Her body was slim and slender, had long arms and legs and whenever she walked it looked more graceful than Ms. Universe herself. She had soft curls of chocolate-milky hair that shined like gold in the sunlight and had deep azure eyes that even out-blued the sky. Her face was blemish-free and looked like a pool of smooth cream with a strawberry toned pair of lips. She was cheerful, kind, loving and almost the complete opposite of House to most people. The only person who House even thought of could compete with the young nurse was currently not in the room.

Finally he saw his last employee as she sashayed in and skipped past her desk as she headed straight for his. Cuddy tossed the container onto the desk and didn't bother to even glance over at House. Though he could now clearly see her paling, weak skin, Sarah didn't seem to compare. There was just something about Cuddy that House couldn't move past but the cryptic thought had disappeared once Sarah looked at him with a cocked brow.

"Oh, are these your mommy's infamous double chocolate chip cookies. Awe, I knew she cared." House stated as he opened the container and completely ignored his girlfriend. "Hey you greedy cookie monster, I know your mother loves me more than this. You stole some."

Cuddy rolled her eyes unenergetically as she rested her head in her hands feeling bored. "She wants you to call her later. She wants to make sure I didn't put any arsenic in them," She stated dully as she ignored his accusation.

House returned her signature eye roll and sent a small playful look as he challenged her. "Please you don't have the guts to poison me." He said as he threw a cookie into his mouth. He took a few small bites before he spitted it into the trash. "What the hell did you put in that thing?" He asked her in disbelief.

"Me," Cuddy asked in mock shock. "Why Dr. House, I would never have the guts to poison you. That is my mother's cookies pure and sure." She stated with sarcasm as she smirked her quirky little grin. "If you don't want them, I'd be happy to take them off your hands but my mother would be so disappointed. She remembered how much you loved those thirty years go. She might get so offended she might actually hate you and for once take my side." She spat vengefully.

"Now Cuddy, you should play nice. Especially with me, I am your boss." He saw her roll her eyes and suddenly saw that the tiny spark of energy in her eyes had suddenly disappeared. When he last saw her as his boss he remembered her eyes practically glowed as the energy passed though them. How hadn't he noticed that they lost their spark, their flare, the liveliness that seemed to dance so freely and beautifully in her eyes?

"House," Sarah called for the fifth time which caused his train of thought to crash into a brick wall. He looked over at her and she held in her anger. "I have to get to work. I'll see you at lunch." She leaned down and kissed him feverishly. She then began to walk out as she sent Cuddy a cold, hard glare.

Cuddy ignored it and kept her eyes on the board and away from her boss. House began and explained the next case before he received several diagnoses. He listed them on the board and saw that Cuddy just sat there uninterested, and House had the sudden urge to make her interested. He wanted to do something, anything, to get her to show him any energy at all, even if it was just a tiny glow on the fire.

After several hours and three tests later, House finally let one of the idiots he kept run diabetes test and told everyone to go to lunch as the only idiot works his ass off. He watched as the brunette hurried out before anyone else and he followed her quickly. He stopped when he saw that she had run into someone and thought that they were being a little too nice but he stayed and watched their interactions.

Cuddy had rushed down the halls, knowing House had been following her, and accidentally ran into another doctor. He had bumped into a nurse and all three were now scrambling to pick up papers. After the nurse got all of her files back in order Cuddy and the familiar man worked on his own. Cuddy laughed softly as she looked at him apologetically and he gave her forgiving smile.

"You're Lisa Cuddy, right?" The man asked. "House told me a bit about you, I'm that doctor from yesterday, William Vinson at your service ma'am." He stated as he offered her a hand off the ground. He pulled her up and shook her hand accordingly. "Why are you in such a rush?" He saw her give him a look and nodded as he said, "House." He heard her chuckle and an idea popped into his head. "Well how about I treat you to some lunch. You look a bit stressed and weak."

Cuddy tried to take the comment as caring instead of an insult and gave him a small smile. She was about to decline he's generous offer but her stomach decided for her and interrupted with a large growl. She saw him extend his arm for her to take and she gave a soft chuckle. "I'd love to grab something to eat." She smiled as he led her to the cafeteria.

From the corner, House watched and gave a low, unexpected growl as he glared at his soon to be ex-friend. He balled his hands into a fist angrily, though he didn't know why. It wasn't as if he had any feelings for Cuddy. He suddenly jumped when he felt a hand on his back. He had startled the person from behind and heard her high pitch squeak of a squeal.

"Sarah, please don't surprise me like that." House told her as he turned and smiled at her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and she wrapped hers around his neck as he gave her a chaste kiss. "Is there anything you need?" He asked as a small smile graced his lips, he almost forgot about his friend and Cuddy walking off arm in arm.

"Sweetie," Sarah looked at him a bit hurt. "We were supposed to meet up for lunch… its lunch." She told him. She noticed that he completely forgot and gave him a small glare. "Is it that woman?" She accused. "I saw how you looked and talked to her! What was that about?" She half yelled jealously.

House sighed as he tried to calm his girlfriend down. "Sarah, its nothing, _she_ is nothing. Just an old friend, acquaintance really, you are all that matters right now." He smiled and lied as he saw a smile replaced the anger on Sarah's face. He leaned down and gave her a soft kiss as she gave a small giggle. "Come on let's go get some lunch maybe that'll make you feel better." Sarah nodded and House led her by the small of her back to the cafeteria.

His mind was suddenly filled with images of Cuddy and Vinson together. Talking, laughing, smiling, being close and now he suddenly wanted to rush down to the cafeteria and rip them apart before they became something more than colleagues. He took a deep breath as he tried to control his unknown anger and walked into the cafeteria. As he and Sarah got in line to get their lunches he immediately saw Vinson sitting and talking to Cuddy, how the sight sickened him.

They grabbed their lunches and sat at a near by booth, House made it as discreet as possible that he was watching Cuddy intently. He noticed Vinson suddenly stand up and give her a small wave goodbye as he joined Sarah and House. There was a smile on his face and House suddenly felt surprisingly suspicious and held himself back from grabbing his friend by the collar and questioning his every move since he ran into Cuddy.

"So that's Cuddy, huh?" Vinson asked House as he saw Sarah cringe in disgust. "She is what you said and more." He emphasized on 'more' and laughed when he saw Sarah's nostrils flare up angrily.

"She is nothing." Sarah stated obviously envious of Cuddy's sudden popularity between the two men. "She has pale skin, is wrinkled and have you seen what she's wearing? Is she some kind of hooker Greg?" She let out in a breath as she began to breathe deeply with anger. "And if you ask me she has an attitude and is so rude, I hate her." She stated out plainly.

"Well no one asked you," Vinson shot. He hated Sarah. Something about her, just rubbed him the wrong way and he could tell she wasn't really the kind of girl his buddy would date. When you were left alone with the woman, you would see that she could be just as mean as the wicked witch of the west. He then turned to Cuddy and back to this friend. "Hey who's that guy who's sitting with Lisa now?"

House looked and saw the idiot who asked to test for diabetes with Cuddy. He balled his hand into a fist once more under the table as he watched the man talk to Cuddy, as if he cared. He saw Cuddy as she tilted her head back and she laughed hardily before she leaned forward to talk to the man. House then realized that she was making plans with him and cursed himself for not knowing how to read lips. He furrowed his brows as his two employees made plans for a date. He found himself hating the man for no apparent reason and decided to conclude that it was just because he was an imbecile.

The man suddenly came towards House and showed him the patient files. House apologized to Sarah as he stood up and called for all his employees to go back to the lecture hall. He watched Cuddy and that unknown doctor attentively and smirked at the chance to publicly humiliate the man that had just sealed his faith by asking out the one other woman House couldn't careless and at the same time couldn't care more about, Cuddy. He followed his employees back to the lecture room and stood in front of them before slamming his cane into the ground.

"Alright everyone, thanks to Dr. Idiot over here," He said pointing to the man. "Your time to cure the patient before he dies has been dramatically cut because he wanted to test for diabetes we knew he didn't have." He announced which made the man avert his eyes regretfully. House smirked, if the man couldn't take a little humiliation he'd never stand more than two dates with Cuddy. Not that he really cared though.

"Yes but because of the test _Dr. Andrews_ ran he found out that the patient had high cholesterol which eliminates half the remaining diagnoses from the list. So now we only have three possible choices and they aren't that hard to test for." Cuddy interjected as she came to her colleague's rescue.

"Awe Cuddy, are you sticking up for your new boyfriend?" House asked her in mock adoration. "You know it is very unprofessional to date the people you work with. Remember what happened to your favorite people Cameron and Chase, oh and let's not forget Fore-teen, they might get hurt if we do." House stated.

Cuddy laughed and was about to object to his accusation but a smirk suddenly appeared on her face. "Why do you care? Are you jealous… again?" She asked with a speck of excitement that appeared in her eyes. "You really need to learn to get over me. You have a witch—I mean girlfriend for crying out loud." She said not missing a beat.

House smirked as he masked a smile seeing that he was able to bring even just the tiniest atoms of animation into her beautiful bluish-gray eyes. "Why would I be jealous? I'm not the one single and likely to die old and alone." He stated coldly trying to see if he could bring the color that had enchanted Cuddy's beautiful face back as well. "And I'm sure when you let him in your pants after the first date that he wouldn't mind you screaming my name like you did with your other, how many was it after me, two boyfriends?"

Cuddy scoffed in disbelief as she thought of something that would hurt House twice as bad. "I never screamed your name. You were just practice and really, that one night stand felt like a five minute stand." She told him. "And if you don't believe me ask Lucas. I screamed his name everytime." She bragged as she knew that that memory would sting House like a bee.

His face suddenly became serious as he began to remember the one time he almost actually lost her and to his friend nonetheless. He only got lucky that time. He knew that if she really wanted to Cuddy and Lucas could have gone all the way and could have had a family together. They could be married by now, have two kids and even a dog if Cuddy hadn't broken things off for reasons that were still unknown to him.

"Well you know I had a crappy ass family," House stated which caused Cuddy to cock her brow. "But at least I had a mother that cared." He stated referring to the one insult he could hold over her as long as he wanted.

Cuddy's eyes got a bit teary as she regretted her comment to him and wished she would have just shut up then. "Well you know what they say," Cuddy paused as she as she furrowed her brows angrily. "Like father, like son." She stated causing House to look at her with more hurt.

House kept his eyes looked on Cuddy's watery eyes as he called out his command. "Go test the patient for the final three diagnoses. If they are all wrong then come back here and page me, if one of them is correct you can go home." House stated dully as kept his eyes on Cuddy.

His employees all dispatched to run their test and after another moment Cuddy turned away as well. She wiped away the water in her eyes that seemed to be too strong to hold back. House watched as she joined _Dr. Andrews_ who put a comforting arm around her and shot him a threatening glare as they walked out of the room together. After they all left House followed and went to his office.

As they sat in the lab and waited for the results from their colleague Andrews put a hand over Cuddy's making her look up with teary eyes. She was good at hiding her emotions, but she couldn't hold them forever. He sighed as he gently caressed Lisa's hand and looked at her sympathetically.

"Lisa," He asked after a moment. "What happened to you and House? I mean in your letters from a few years ago all you could do was rave on about him and how great he is. Now it's like you hate him. Aunt Lauren thinks he's amazing, what did he do to you? Do you need me to kick his ass?" He said jokily making his younger cousin crack a smile. He then notice her eyes avert to the ground in sadness.

--

_Flashback_

_Cuddy walked into the hospital and signed in. It was a regular day, and she was a bit late because Rachel refused to wake up that day. That was, until she found out she would be seeing her 'father' that day. She walked to her room, with a normal long, confident stride. She walked in, and was oddly unsurprised to see her employee, House, sitting on her couch waiting for her._

_"Where's your precious angel?" She heard him ask her as she put her stuff down. She wasn't surprised that he asked. She had taken Rachel to work with her everyday since Rachel turned 4 and became extremely attached to her 'father.'_

_"Daddy," She heard her daughter yell as she ran into the room and jumped up into House's lap after hugging his leg. She caught a quick smile on his face and couldn't help but return it. She noticed that he had stopped paying attention to her and was now paying attention to the angel on his lap._

_"Where's your daddy?" House asked. Cuddy had grown used to him asking that, it was a joke he liked to play with her. Some how he always knew where she'd grabbed onto him before he even saw them that day._

_She heard Rachel giggle and reply, "Right here," While grabbing his nose. Her eyes grew wide as she saw her daughter holding a nose and House holding his face. She then realized it was another trick when she heard her daughter giggling._

_"Why don't you go get me a lollipop, you know the kind I like." She saw him wink at her daughter. Rachel nodded enthusiastically and jumped off his lap. She ran out of the room to get her favorite doctor, well second favorite doctor, a lolli._

_She held her head in her hands and her elbows prompted on her desk as she smiled admirably at House. She had dreamy look on her face, she knew it, and she didn't care if he caught it. She suddenly saw House look down and panic began to flow through her veins._

_"I quit," She heard him say bluntly. She looked at him in shock and sadness. Sure they fought everyday, but she wanted him to go just as much as Rachel wanted to stay away from him. She looked at him to continue. "I'm sick of playing daddy for your little brat." He told her bluntly._

_Cuddy gasped and looked at him in hurt and anger. "House, don't do this…" She shook her head and House averted his gaze. She caught a glimpse of sorrow in his eyes. "Rachel has fallen in love with you, you can't just leave her… leave me…" She said the last part quietly to herself._

_"I told you," He repeated. "I am sick of playing that brats daughter." He said with anger and more feeling, obviously missing the last part of her sentence. Cuddy glared at him and held back her tears. Her eyes were already red and she had nothing but anger to let out._

_"Just leave then," She screamed. "Get the hell out of here." She turned away and let a few tears fell down her face. She heard him limp off and close the doors. She sat on her couch and held her head in her hands as she began to sob. Her doors reopened, thinking it was him she looked up to see her daughter, looking at her with sadness. Rachel came up to her mother and hugged her as Cuddy continued to cry._

--

"It's nothing, Jacob" Cuddy sighed. "We just," She shrugged. "Went our different ways, after seeing his true, _true_ colors I guess what I saw in the limelight wasn't as… amazing." She stated vaguely.

Andrews knew better than to pry when it came to his cousin's innermost secrets, but he was worried about her. He hadn't noticed it before, but his cousin seemed different. As if she wasn't the energetic, funny, sarcastic cousin he used to know and love. She seemed almost lifeless like a puppet and House was the puppet master.

"Got it," They heard their colleague – who had inconspicuously listened in on the conversation – say. "The patient has Lobstein syndrome," He announced. "I'll start the treatment." He told them. "You guys can go home, seems like you need some rest," He told Cuddy subtly caringly before he ran off.

Cuddy gave her cousin a small smile and a cheek-to-cheek kiss before getting up to get her things. Jacob watched as his dear, favorite cousin ran off to go home and take care of her little seven years old. After he couldn't see Lisa in sight he stood up with determination in his eyes. He knew better than to pry Lisa for information she wanted private, but that didn't mean there were other people that couldn't give him the info he wanted and needed.

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**A/N: Hehe so I know I said I'd go on about Vinson but hey we learned a little about him didn't we? lol I'd like to get your opinions and thoughts about Vinson, Sarah and Jacob. Who do you guy wanna hear more or less about hehe. All your reviews count and are all put into consideration while i write each and every chapter. I hope you all liked this story and please review!**

-Jessica


	5. Birthday Suprise

**Disclaimer: I do not own House**

**A/N: Hey everyone! XD haha here's the next chapter, for some reason if I update this I HAVE to update WTHW and if I update WTHW I HAVE ot update this xD haha it's some kind of thing wrong with me XD well I hope you all like it. I would love to thank all my readers and reviews for encouraging this story hehe and I'd like to ask all you closet readers to please review :D hehe well in this chapter you're going to see more of a twist and maybe a turn hehe I think I'm watching too many of my mom's dramas XD HAHAHA Well anyways, thanks to my beta** Americanchick** for editing so fast while I was busy sleeping in for 12 hours. I hope you all like it and please review.**

** Oh and one more thing. To all my readers in america:**

**HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!!!**

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Jacob went up to his new boss's office, consequence be damned, to stand up for his cousin. He found House leaning back in his chair as he listened to music and played video games with his back turned towards the door. Jacob shut off the older man's music which earned hi**m** a cold hard glare and he happily returned it. House turned his music back on and ignored the man. Jacob furrowed his brows in anger and pulled out the plug which caused House to sit up as he looked at the man angrily. Jacob saw the game put down on the table and grabbed it before taking a step backwards.

"What the hell did you do to Lisa?" Jacob asked angrily as he clutched the tightly as if he could crunch it into tiny pieces if he didn't get the answer he liked.

"You know you shouldn't be talking to your boss like that," House warned with a threatening glare. "And for your new girlfriend too, ya know if you show any emotions towards her if you are still working for me I'd fire you by the end of the day." He stated as he stood up and reached for the game but Jacob pulled it away while jumping back slightly.

"She's not my girlfriend you asshole," House opened his mouth to say something but Jacob went on. "She's my cousin; now tell me what the hell you did to her?" Jacob didn't give him a chance to even open his mouth this time. "For years all I've ever read about is this great guy and friend from college and then suddenly she starts talking about nonsense and when I ask her about the college friend she says that she doesn't know what the hell I'm talking about. Now I don't know about you but that makes me suspicious."

"Maybe she was lying," House deflected seriously as he furrowed his brows. What did he do to her? "And why do you automatically assume it is me whom she is talking about?"

Jacob dropped the game on the ground and grabbed House by the collar of his shirt. "You son of a bitch, I just asked her what the hell you did and suddenly it's like she's a whole other person. You did something and if you don't tell me what or don't fix this I will kick your ass. Aunt Lauren asked me to protect her and if that means going to jail for committing murder as long as the son of a bitch who is hurting my little cousin is gone I'll gladly get death row." He threatened angrily but House stayed unfazed.

"Jacob, put him down." A voice behind him commanded. The two men turned to see Cuddy standing at the door looking irritated. "Now Jacob," She half yelled. She waited until she saw her cousin glare at House before putting him down. "When I said its nothing I meant its nothing! Now keep your nose out of my business because I don't need you digging up something in my past!" She told her cousin. "The past is the past. And I did not rave on about him, I vented." She defended. "Now go or else you'll be late." She ushered her cousin out before she turned to House and kept the same dull face. "Stay out of my personal life." She saw him open his mouth and went on. "Wilson called me. You do not need know why I quit all you need to know is that I quit and you do not need to know what happened after you left." She told him. "You don't care House so please don't act like it. Stay out of my personal life and we will have a perfectly fine professional one." She paused and saw House furrow his brows. "Good night Dr. House." She said as she turned to leave.

"You know, technically, as your boss I did need know why you were stupid enough to quit your old job." House called out making her turn around and face him. "Just a few tiny insults, I thought I trained you better." House said half jokily. "It hurts that you couldn't take all those little insults."

"That's not why I quit." She told him. "That's why Wilson thinks I quit and yes it was a factor but I just realized that Princeton wasn't really the best place for me." She stated vaguely as House could clearly see she was hiding something. "Now if you don't mind I have a daughter to go home to. Goodnight." She left before he could stop her once more.

House walked over to his window and watched for a few minutes until he saw Cuddy walking out. He saw a man accidentally run into her and she immediately grabbed her arm as if in pain, but they didn't collide that hard. House continued to watch as she looked around suspiciously before she placed her items in the car. He saw Jacob quietly creep up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder causing her to turn around quickly in fright. House noticed that Cuddy's hands were balled with one raised as if ready for combat. He knew she wanted to always be prepared but she never seemed too paranoid before in her life. There was something she wasn't telling him, something that he needed to know and he'll do anything to solve this puzzle.

--

Cuddy apologized as she almost punched her cousin in the face. He apologized for the episode he had caused in House's office and promised to never do it again. She gave him a weak smile and a huge as she accepted his apology and rode home.

As she drove she occasionally messaged her arm when she was able to stop. She rolled up her sleeve and saw the black bruise slowly turning into a gray one. She had recently gotten the cast around her arm off but a bruise had formed not long after. She heard a car horn and came out of her daze. She quickly pressed the acceleration peddle and rushed home and tried not to stop till she got home. She stayed in her car and checked her arm once more before deciding to come in. She was greeted by her daughter jumping into her arms and she winced in pain but kept it together.

"Mommy, do I look pretty in my party dress?" Rachel asked cutely which cause a smile to instantly appear on her middle-aged mother's face.

Rachel was wearing a pink dress with yellow and blue flowers printed on the bottom of them. A green vine went through and around the flowers as it came all the way around the dress. The top of the dress was plain pink with little white tags at the end of her short sleeves. Lauren had made Rachel get a jacket that only went halfway down her back and was yellow with only a few small flowers printed on them to go with the dress. Her grandmother had also put her hair in one pony tail with a pink bow to hold it all together.

"You look very pretty sweetie, but why are you in a party dress?" Cuddy asked in false ignorance as she began to carry her daughter into the living room and put on her white party shoes that went with the dress.

"Mommy," Rachel pouted. "You forgot." She looked down sadly as she got out of her mother's arms and turned her back to her disappointedly.

Cuddy began laugh to as she leaned down to scope her daughter up. "Oh how can I forget my angel's birthday?" She asked as she swung Rachel around in her arms. She saw a smile imprint itself on her daughter's cute, little face. "Why don't you watch TV, keep the dress clean and stay right here while mommy gets ready too. You want mommy to look pretty right?"

Rachel smiled and nodded as she was placed gently onto the couch. Her smile widened when she saw Lauren walk out wearing a flowing black dress that went down to her knees. The sleeves were loose and went halfway down her forearm. She wore black strap heels and a long, skinny gold chain that hung to her belly button. Her little black purse had a similar chain holding it. For her hair and make up, Lauren had kept it plain and simple by combing it down and had simply applied a light amount of gray eye shadow along with mascara and one coat of red lip stick.

"Nana," Rachel called with admiration in her voice as she looked at her grandmother adoringly. "You look so pretty." She smiled as her grandmother came and picked the girl up.

"Why thank you Princess Rachel and you look pretty too." Lauren kissed the tip of Rachel's nose before they both turned to Lisa. "So sweetheart, how do we look?" Lauren asked as she put her face right next to Rachel's as they both smiled brightly.

Cuddy smiled and laughed at the pair. "You two look very pretty," She complimented. "Now it's my turn to attempt to look pretty. Hopefully I'll be able to compare." She smiled as she gave them both a hug. "I'll be done by 7." She stated as she rushed off to the room.

Lauren looked at the time and smirked. "More like 8, you know how your mother can be. I knew I made the reservation perfect. We'll be there by 8:30." Lauren spoke to herself, but Rachel had been listening and smiled at her grandmother.

"Nana," Rachel whispered into Lauren's ear. "Did you invite Daddy like you said you would?" She asked curiously and anxiously.

Lauren had a bit of a mischievous smile as she turned to her granddaughter. "Don't worry dear, daddy is gonna be there and mommy will to. But shh, don't tell mommy. Don't forget, it's a secret." Lauren winked at her now 8 year old daughter who winked and smiled back.

As assumed Cuddy came out at 8 and ignored her mother's smug smile. She twirled a bit in front of her mother and daughter for their approval. Her hair was curled elegantly at the bottom, and applied a Smokey eye look to her eyelids, as well as some mascara along with a light pink lipstick. She also wore a natural color of blush and foundation – to hide the small bags that had formed under her eyes. Her dress was elegant and light blue and hugged her curves at the top but flowed at the bottom, with a cut on the left side that went up her leg to her knee. It was a bit low cut, but not enough to show much cleavage. She wore black stilettos and a little black jacket, to hide her bruise.

"You look wonderful dear," Lauren said taking Cuddy's arm and unknowingly hitting Cuddy's bruise. When she saw her daughter's pain stricken face she looked at her caringly. "Sweetie, are you okay?"

Cuddy smiled and nodded. "Of course, I just hit slipped earlier in the shower and I hurt my arm a little," She lied sincerely.

Lauren sighed and nodded accepting the lie and picked up Rachel before heading towards the door. Cuddy grabbed a clutch black purse before she followed. She unlocked the doors to her Lexus and Lauren buckled Rachel in while Cuddy simply got into the driver's seat. She didn't start the car until her mother was sitting and had her seatbelt on. They then began to drive down the street and after a few minutes Rachel suddenly looked confused.

"Mommy, this isn't the way to Chuck E. Cheeses." Rachel stated as she looked out the window and turned her sad gaze to her mother.

Cuddy smiled as she drove and responded, "Don't worry sweetie, we just need to make a quick stop." She turned to her mother who held the same cryptic smile.

They continued to drive until they came up to a house that Rachel didn't recognize. Cuddy took her out of her seat and Rachel looked a bit confused but trusted her mother and nana completely. They walked into the home that was unlocked and turned on the lights. There was nothing out of the ordinary. Cuddy put Rachel down. Cuddy and Lauren told Rachel they'd be back in a second before they closed the door and walked into the house. Rachel sat at the door and waited for five minutes before she stood up and followed where her Nana and mother had gone.

"Mommy," Rachel called into the dark room. "Nana," She began to get scared when she heard a nose. "Where are you?" She hesitated before she walked completely in the darkness. She walked until she was completely in the darkness and could no longer see. "Mommy, Nana, where are you?" She asked as she slowly began to get scared.

The lights suddenly flashed on and everyone screamed 'Surprise!' Cuddy smiled as she came up to her startled daughter and picked her up. The look of fright was instantly replaced with happiness and content when Rachel began to recognize all the faces. She climbed down from her mother and gave several of the people hugs. As she looked for one particular man her face fell into disappointment and sadness.

"Rach, sweetie, what's wrong," Cuddy asked as she kneeled down to her daughter's height. She saw the sadness in her eyes and wondered what could have gone wrong.

"I think I know what'll make her feel better," Cuddy heard a voice say from behind. She turned around and found her new annoying boss.

Rachel's face immediately brightened and she ran into her father's loving arms. Cuddy looked at House angrily as he gave Rachel a present. She took Rachel from him and put her down telling her to add the gift over to the gift table. Cuddy saw that House hadn't arrived alone and was accompanied by Sarah who stared at Cuddy with jealousy. Vinson had also tagged along and gave Cuddy a small smile, which she returned. House saw the mutuality and thought that he had to be the only one in the group that Cuddy did not hate and envied him a bit. Cuddy then returned her attention to the last man she wanted to see.

"House what the hell do you think you're doing here?" Cuddy asked him angrily but her face wore a dull expression. "Why the hell did you come to crash Rachel's birthday? Don't you have somewhere else to be like a damn bar?" She kept her dull expression.

"Lisa, calm down," Lauren said coming behind her daughter and giving House a warm smile. "I'm glad to see you found your way Greg. I invited him dear, so calm down and suck it up." Lauren saw her daughter look at her incredulously before she walked away and rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, she'll start drinking and I'm sure she'll mellow. If she doesn't she'll pass out." Lauren joked and then saw Sarah. "Oh hello, you must be Gregory's girlfriend. Lisa mentioned you. She is quite fond of you." She lied.

Sarah blushed. "Really, she is fond of me?" She saw Lauren nod with a smile and smiled back a little embarrassed.

House looked at Lauren and narrowed his eyes before he pulled her away. "Nice job lying to her, but Lisa hates her guts." He smirked. "I think she's jealous of my new arm candy." He joked.

"I thought I taught that girl how to hide that," Lauren said seriously which caused House to look at her in shock. "Oh come on Greg, don't tell me you wouldn't have known if she did hide it." In response she saw House smile simply.

"Ah, damn it," They heard someone yell.

Lauren and Greg joined the group to find Lisa holding her arm in pain as Jacob tried to give her an ice bag as he tried to wrap her arm in bandages. She turned them both down. He and Vinson both urged her to take off the jacket so they could see how far the cut was. She had started to cut the cake when the kids running accidentally pushed her and she cut her arm. She continued to tell them that she was fine and refused to take off the jacket.

"Come on Lisa, we can see the blood spreading, take off the damn jacket! We'll give it back to you later after we check out you arm." Jacob told her as he attempted to pry the jacket off her.

Eventually Vinson, Jacob and Greg were able to get the jacket off and House immediately saw why she didn't want to take it off so bad. There were small, fading bruises on Cuddy's wrists as well as one big on Cuddy's right forearm, near where she had cut herself, which tells that she had broken it recently and had just gotten the cast off. She had a few scratches – that were almost gone – on her biceps and there was one more bruise that was almost gone on her right shoulder.

"What the hell happened to you," House demanded an answer. "Who the hell did this?"

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**A/N: Oooh a mystery..... haha I'm not really sure how where to unviel that though so I'll let you guys choose:**

**Do you want me to make a flashback for the next chapter**

**Or do you want to wait a few chapters before Cuddy finally cracks down and tells everyone**

**The chose is up to you!! XD haha. Well I hope you all like the chapter and don't worry other than those bruises and cuts Cuddy wasn't really hurt!!!! She almost was....but she didn't actually lol. Hope you liked it! Reviews are very appriciated!**

-Jessica


	6. My Secret

**Disclaimer: I do not own House**

**A/N: hehe wow I updated this pretty quickly, well all your reviews were so encourging and I was actually a little excited myself to write it hehe i'm an eager beaver! :D well thank you to everyone who reviewed! They were all so nice and you all voted for flashback so I assumed it meant for this chapter lololol there is my favorite component in here... hehehe ya thought i was gonna tell you here didnt u haha. Well anyways thanks to my beta** Americachick** for editing so quickly :D hehe well I hope you all like it! :D **

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Everyone looked at Cuddy with worry and she looked away. Rachel ran up to her mother and looked at her with sadness as she crawled on her lap. She put her hand on her mother's face caringly and Cuddy was putty in the girl's hands. Cuddy looked away, not being able to resist her daughter's cuteness, but held herself from blurting out what had happened.

--

_Cuddy was packing her items when she heard the door open. She looked up and glared at the man she saw and immediately turned back around to ignore him. She heard the door close and was surprised when she also heard the lock click. She stood up straight and glared at him suspiciously._

_"What do you want now Daniel," She asked angrily, not caring if he was her boss or not. "You already insulted my wardrobe, my 'message', my work ethics, my mistakes, my decisions, and my moral values. Did you suddenly remember something?" She wanted to just go home and relax with her daughter._

_"Lisa, Lisa, Lisa," He shook his head as he began to step towards her with a small twinkle of mischief in his eyes. "You still don't get why I'm here do you?" He noticed that she had begun to slowly walk backwards away from him as he got closer and closer. "Your hospital is second rate, at best, and you lost your only asset. Why do you think I'm 'here'?"_

_"Don't you dare touch me," She warned in a shaky voice. Her eyes trembled with fear as she saw that he wasn't backing down._

_"I'm your boss now, you can't boss me around," He grabbed her wrists tightly as he cornered her against the wall. He slammed them against the wall, near the window and tightened his grip more. Why did she have to close her blinds?_

_"Let go_!"_ Cuddy screamed. "You're hurting me," She turned her face__ and__ he attempted to kiss her. "Get off!" She attempted once more as she tried to not cry._

_Daniel didn't back off. He came there with a mission he wasn't going to give up now. Plus if he let her go, she'd obviously run and tell the cops. Instead he let go of her wrists and grabbed her biceps and pierced them with his nails._

_Cuddy bit her lip and pain as she continued to resist. The day she let this asshole touch her willingly was the day she died. She attempted to escape by kneeing him in the groin and she had successfully loosened his grip on her leg arm. She used all her strength to push him off and quickly found her escape. As she began to run towards the door Daniel grabbed her left arm and pulled her which caused her to fall and slam her right arm onto the ground. She screamed in pain as she realized she had just fractured her bone. She turned onto her back and saw that Daniel was still in a bit of pain from when she kneed him. She took this as an opportunity and used her heel to dig deep into his leg. She heard him cry out in pain as he let go of her. Cuddy quickly grabbed her belongs and ran out of the office before Daniel had the chance to get up._

_As she ran out, she looked behind her to make sure no one was following her. She was suddenly caught by strong arms and she squealed in fright. She turned to see her trustworthy friend Wilson and leaned into his embrace._

_"Hey are you okay?" He asked as he noticed her red rimmed eyes. She didn't know she had begun to cry. __Wilson__ pulled her out of the embrace and held her arms lightly and saw her wince in pain. "Is your arm okay?" He rolled up her right sleeve and saw the bruised wrists and furrowed his brows in anger. "Did that jackass do this to you? What happened?" He asked concerned and noticed how much it hurt her for him to simply touch her right forearm._

_"No," Cuddy said too quickly. "My heel broke earlier and I just fell, I must have hurt my arm and I hit my wrist against my table this morning." She lied, but her eyes begged __Wilson__ to at least act like he believed her._

_Wilson__ nodded and sighed. "Alright let's get your arm checked out." __Wilson__ tried to lead her to the elevator but Cuddy stood still in protest. "Don't worry," __Wilson__ assured her with a smile. "I won't leave your side for a second. He isn't going to get near you. I just want to x-ray your arm so we can get you in a cast and out of here."_

_Cuddy reluctantly followed as she knew that __Wilson__ would never let her leave with a broken arm and no cast. As he promised he didn't leave her side until she was in her car and on her way home. __Wilson__ also made sure that Daniel didn't leave for at least three hours and called Cuddy every hour until they went to sleep to make sure that she was okay._

--

Cuddy had sent Rachel to play with the other kids and she obligated reluctantly. The adults stayed around Cuddy as they waited for her to tell them what happened and who did it, but she stayed silent and avoided all their gazes. House furrowed his brows and clutched his cane tightly ready to attack whoever hurt _his_ Cuddy.

"Who the hell did this to you," House repeated with more anger. Sarah looked at him in shock and jealousy but he ignored it as he intensified his glare on Cuddy, but she simply ignored him and kept her eyes down.

"Lisa," Lauren called firmly. "Tell us what happened and who did it. I don't want to hear anymore lies. What happened to you?" She demanded an answer and she didn't care how much her daughter resisted she would find out.

"Nothing, get off my back!" Cuddy snapped at them. "I'm fine. I'm alive. That's all that matters." She looked at them as if begging, "Please can you all just enjoy Rachel's party? Please," She begged.

A few adults reluctantly turned around and obliged her request and she gave them a grateful smile. House, Vinson, Sarah, Jacob and Lauren didn't leave though. Cuddy looked at her mother and furrowed her brows as she continued to give her the begging look. Lauren looked at her daughter angrily and sighed before she turned away to take care of the party. Cuddy gave a small smile of victory but turned to the four remaining doctors.

"God, I'm fine." She rolled her eyes. "Am I in the morgue? Am I dead? Am I six feet under? No! So I'm fine. For Christ's sake, calm down and enjoy the party. It's Rachel's 8th birthday and should be very special." She stated, but that didn't convince them. "If you don't mind I have a cut to clean out." She decided to walk away.

"She isn't going to talk to me. Not after what happened at House's office," Jacob stated eliminating himself as the person to try to pry the answers out of her.

"She obviously hates my guts," House rolled his eyes regrettably. He knew that Cuddy couldn't stand Sarah which left Vinson, and he felt a pang of jealousy. "I guess that leaves you Vinson old buddy," He stated hesitantly.

Vinson looked at the three other doctors and sighed. He grabbed the bandages and made his way over to Cuddy. He grabbed a paper towel on the way to the sink and stood next to her. Cuddy ignored him and continued to wash out her cut, ignoring the obvious pain she felt.

"Here, let me see that." Vinson took her arm gently and applied pressure using the paper towel. He saw her wince in pain and lightened his grip. "Sorry," He smiled and she gave a weak smile back.

"Thanks," Cuddy said as Vinson led her to two near by chairs. "I won't tell you what happened though." She told him. "So you can give up the act."

Vinson laughed. "You are just like House. You don't think people can just help to help. They have to have a hidden agenda." He saw Cuddy nod in agreement before she gave a small laugh and he laughed with her. "Well I usually have both." He stated and saw her give a small smile.

Vinson took the bandage roll and began to wrap it around Cuddy's cut gently. He saw a twitch of pain and looked at her to see if it hurt. She gave smiled as she encouraged him to go on and he nodded returning her soft smile.

"Thanks," She repeated and got a simple nod back. "You know, it's odd how a man like House attracts such nice, caring and loving friends." She gave a soft chuckle.

Vinson laughed as well as he ripped off the end of the bandage and looked at her. "You know, I thought the same thing when he told me about his Oncologist friend. He is always so mean and jerky yet his friends are like the best friends you can ever ask for, if I don't say so myself." He said with a hint of arrogance.

"Damn," Cuddy examined her bandage and saw Vinson cock a brow at her. "I thought I finally got my bandages off." She smiled at the irony.

"Well, I guess you just have the worst luck ever," He joked. "While I'm at it, why don't you let me check out those bruises and that nasty arm of yours?" He offered kindly.

Cuddy was averse but nodded. "And I clean my arm every day thank you very much," She said jokily. "There is nothing nasty about it."

Vinson shook his head as he gave a small chuckle. "You know House is wrong about you, you're funnier than he says." He began to look at Cuddy's bruises to make sure they were healing normally.

House stood near the two and gave a jealous glare. He saw Vinson examining Cuddy and couldn't help but feel envious. He should be the one over there talking to Cuddy and comforting her. He should be the one checking all her cuts and bruises to make sure she was fine. He began to grind his teeth with anger as he saw Cuddy and Vinson smiling and laughing, he should be the one joking with Cuddy. Sarah came by his side with a drink, but he only half listened to her. He took the drink and threw it down his throat as he kept his eyes on his friend and Cuddy.

"Well I guess you were right," Vinson smiled. "You are fine and you definitely aren't dead." He joked and got Cuddy to smile again for the tenth time that night. "You know, whenever you're ready to talk about what happens, I'm all ears. I know you must think that we barely even met and you can't trust me with crap but I keep more secrets from House then I do my own parents." He assured her. "I'm not like Wilson; I'll keep my mouth shut until you give me the clear to gossip."

Cuddy gave him an appreciative smile. "Thank you," She told him. She gave him a warm embrace of gratitude and felt him rub her back comfortingly.

Cuddy stood up and held her arm out for her jacket. Vinson stood up and held the jacket out as he offered to put if on for her. She gave him a small smile before she took his offer and put her arms into the jacket and hugged it warmly. She gave him another smile before she walked away to watch her daughter play and enjoy the rest of her birthday.

House clutched his fists as he continued to watch the two. He furrowed his brows in anger and resentment when he saw the two shared a hug and when Vinson put the jacket on Cuddy. Who was he trying to fool anyways? It was obvious he liked her and if Vinson thought that House would just let him get to her without a fight, he was stupider than House thought. He saw Vinson begin to walk towards him and unclenched his jaw and fist and acted as if everything were the same.

"Nothing," Vinson stated as he walked right passed House and to the refreshment tables. "She seems a little traumatized from it so maybe you shouldn't try to push her too much." He advised his friend.

House furrowed his brows. "Oh you have two conversations with her and suddenly you're an expert on her," House accidentally blurted loudly and he saw Vinson smile at the green that was practically oozing out of his ears. "Pushing her is the only way to get to her and plus she already hates me. It doesn't matter what I do."

"Come on House, we both know that you don't want her to hate you more so why don't you back off for a little," Vinson asked but knew that House would never listen. He didn't listen back in Hopkins when he told House not to cheat on the test and he didn't listen then, why would he listen now when the stakes were much higher.

House limped over to where Cuddy was sitting contently as she watched Rachel play leap frog with the other kids. He sat down and immediately saw Cuddy's smile drop. Her expression was replaced with dullness and irritation.

"House, don't even try to push me right now or you'll see a resignation letter on your desk first thing Monday morning." Cuddy threatened as she kept her eyes on Rachel and the kids.

"Is that a promise?" House had unintentionally let out. He didn't want Cuddy to leave and after tonight, that's the last thing he wants. If she left he wouldn't be able to protect her and who knows, she might not be dead now but she could be dead then.

"You're an ass," She whispered to make sure the kids didn't hear as her irritation grew.

Not wanting to wait to see if he'd actually try to push her Cuddy stood up and walked towards the food table to get some grub and began to talk to Vinson once more. She some how knew that would just make House mad.

House bit back a scowl as the two doctors shared another laugh as they moved their conversation to the spot they were sitting at earlier, secluded from everyone else at the party. His attention was turned when he felt a tug at his pants and turned to a confused Rachel. He gave the birthday girl a smile as he picked her up and placed her on his left leg which caused her to smile brightly at him.

"Daddy," She began curiously. "Why is mommy laughing, talking and hugging that man? I thought she was supposed to talk to you. That's why Nana invited you." Rachel stated in a bit of confusion. "And why does mommy have all those boo boos?"

House chuckled, Lauren was a clever fox. "Well sweetie that man is talking to mommy because she won't tell me or anyone else why she has so many boo boos." House spoke in her native tongue. "Don't worry, daddy will find out." House smiled. "Now what do you know about this conversation?"

Rachel smiled at her father. "It never happened!" She exclaimed and saw her father nod in approval before he placed her gently back to the ground before she ran off to play again.

House went back to scowling at his friends as they seemed to flirt and he saw Cuddy look at him once or twice before her smile faded. He noticed that once her attention turned back to Vinson the smile returned ten fold. Sarah - knowing how her boyfriend was - just ignored it and let him to himself for the night. She'd bother him about it once they got home.

--

After the party had ended everyone had gone home. The car ride to home for Cuddy was as Lauren ignored her and her daughter slept soundly in the back. When they got home Lauren beat Cuddy to Rachel and into the house. Lauren told Cuddy to wait in the living room and she'd put Rachel in bed. Cuddy listened to her mother as she felt like a teenager again and sat in the living room.

Lauren walked out ten minutes later and stood at the entrance to the room while she leaned again the wall. The room stayed silent as soft air blew in from an open window and neither wanted to talk first. Lauren kept her arms crossed and her brows furrowed as she looked at her daughter who had sat on the couch crossed legged and her eyes on the floor.

"What happened," Lauren finally broke the silence as she uncrossed her arms and went to her daughter's side. She put a comforting arm around Cuddy and looked at her sympathetically.

"Mother," Lisa started as she looked at her mother with begging eyes. "I'm fine, I'm alive, and I'm healthy. Please don't pry. It was nothing." She told her mother.

Lauren wasn't backing down this time. "Lisa Cuddy, tell me what happened now," She commanded. "I am your mother and I care. So does that fellow Vinson, and Jacob, and your sister, and House—"

Cuddy scoffed. "Mother, do not bring him up again. He does not care. Maybe he was shocked or I might be a puzzle but the man doesn't care."

"Lisa, just tell me what happened. I won't tell House, or your sister, or anyone. I just want to know what happened to you and why you never told me." Lauren asked hurt.

Cuddy groaned as her guilt complex got the better of her. "This thing happened in Princeton and I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to worry. Look, I'm really tired and it's been a long night. Can we talk tomorrow?" Cuddy pleaded her to her mother.

Lauren sighed and frowned as she let go of her daughter. "Fine, go to bed, but we are talking first thing tomorrow. You can't use your laptop, phone, go out, watch TV or do anything until we talk, got that young lady? You wanna act like a kid and keep secrets? Then I will treat you like one; now go to your room." Lauren stood up.

Cuddy gave her mother a weak smile seeing that she still cared but was letting her have one peaceful night. "Okay, I love you mom. Goodnight," She gave her mom a cheek kiss before rushing to her room.

As she changed she began to look at her bruises and caressed it in pain. She hoped she'd never have to see that rotten man ever again in her life and if she did she hope it was at his funeral. She quickly got into her night gown and slipped into her bed as she slowly began to drift to sleep, wanting to forget everything that happened that day.

--

House and Sarah lay in bed after having a small talk and doing their nightly rituals. Sarah snuggled comfortable in her boyfriend's chest as he wraps an arm around her. She quickly drifted to sleep, but House found himself staring at the ceiling as his insomnia suddenly returned followed with thoughts from the party.

Why had Cuddy become so chummy with Vinson? Why couldn't she ever be that happy with him around? Did he really do something to hurt her bad? Who the hell hurt her? How? Would she ever trust him again?

House silently cursed himself as he realized that all his thoughts and questions revolved around Cuddy. Why did he care so much? He didn't own her. He never did and he never wanted to. Now he was lying to himself when he didn't really need to. He groaned the images of her wounds and her with Vinson began to override his head. He let out an aggravated sigh as he began to hatch an ingenious plan. He smiled at himself closed his eyes as he slowly let the plan unravel in his mind. Yeah, that plan would work. Now all he needed to do was to wait till Monday and maybe all his questions will be answered or fixed.

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**A/N:hehe another cliffy.....what is House's plan hahaha lets just say it involves candy, his office and someone. haha. Thats pretty vague right? Well tell what you guys thought? Was the flashback what you thought it'd be?? lolol if it was then wow o.o you can read minds haha :D and tell me what you thought of the little Vinson/Cuddy scenes I mostly put them in cuz I love jelly house hehehe. Please review and tell me what you want to see more or and what you want to see less of. :D**

**Oh and one VERY important question on how this story will go:**

**Do you want to learn/read more about daniel (meaning he comes back) or keep him as far away from Cuddy as possible? This is a very important question and I will have it as a poll on my profile so either tell me here or go on my profile to vote your vote might just make a difference!!**

-Jessica


	7. The Little Spy

**Disclaimer: I do not own House**

**A/N: alright well this is shorter than the last chaoter but I wanted to save most of it for te next chapter, plus it was 12 am when I wrote this XD haha I didnt want to get grounded but I thought I should at least update ONE more story before my break comes to an end and it was supposed to be posted yesterday but I had a huddyfest and watched every huddy scene and ep I could find in my recorder lolol but at least I finished! This is probably the last fast update I have and if I update again quickly its because I actually did my homework early like I'm supposed to instead of last minute (I'm a great student arent I?)**

**Well thanks to EVERYONE who reviewed or voted. The poll is still up and I wont be taking it down until the very chapter it is needed in. Right now Daniel returning is in the lead, so if you don't want him to return and you havent voted vote now!**

**Also thanks to my beta **Americanchick** for editing while I took my nappy lololol and I hope you all like it :D Oh btw Vinson is no threat to huddy XD haha we learn a little more about him here around the end haha and you'll see he is no threat at all! **

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The morning was quiet as Lauren and Lisa prepared breakfast in silence. Rachel was still asleep because of the exhausting night. The only words that were passed through the mother and daughter cooking were "pass me this…" and "where is that…" They didn't make eye contact and neither brought up the subject… yet. As they began to finish the breakfast, they heard a soft yawn and both turned to find a tired, sleepy eye Rachel standing in at the entrance to the kitchen.

"Good morning, sweetheart," Cuddy said softly and lovingly as she picked the little girl up into her arms. Rachel laid her head on her mother's shoulder and snuggled into it still a bit tired. "Are you hungry?" Cuddy asked and got a simple nod against her shoulder as response. She smiled and gave her daughter a kiss on the cheek before putting her gently down on to a chair. "Well Nana and I made you your favorites. We have eggs, pancakes, sausage, and yogurt."

Rachel smiled and gave another cute yawn before leaning up weakly to give her mother a soft hug. "Thank you mommy," She wiped her eyes before she gave Lauren a hug. "Thank you Nana." She spoke softly as she began to eat her breakfast.

Lisa and Lauren sat across from each other. Lisa was next to Rachel and Lauren was facing both of them. Contrary to their usual mornings, Lisa and Lauren weren't kidding around or talking. They stayed silent as they eat a family breakfast and it didn't take the smart Rachel long to figure out something was up. As she began to slowly wake fully up she looked between her mother and Lauren and also noticed that they weren't looking at each other, instead they kept their eyes on their food. Rachel learned her observant skills from when she spent time with House and he had taught her that if there was a pattern and the pattern suddenly stopped something was wrong.

"What's wrong?" Rachel asked as she furrowed her brows at the two women, who turned to look at her. "You guys aren't talking, did you have a fight?" Rachel's eyes suddenly grew wide and fearful. "Do we have to move away from Nana?" She asked sadly.

Lisa and Lauren finally looked at each as they both held the same mixture of shock, concern and sympathy for Rachel. Lauren came beside her granddaughter while Cuddy caressed a cheek gently. Rachel looked from one to the other sadly as she leaned into her mother's loving touch. Lisa gave a soft sigh as she looked at her mother once more.

"Rachel," Cuddy started slowly.

"You are not moving out and away from me," Lauren finished. "I am not letting you two leave so easily. You can't get rid of me that easily, sweet pea." Lauren gave Rachel a soft kiss on the forehead.

"Yeah, Nana and I are just… at a disagreement." She saw Rachel's mouth open to ask a question but as if she read her daughter's mind she answered, "No we are not fighting. We are going to talk about it later, okay? So you don't have to be afraid of anything. If we were moving away from Nana I would ask you first because you know you are the most important thing to me."

Rachel smiled and gave a soft sniff. "Okay," She nodded reluctantly and saw her Nana and mother smile happily. "But are you guys disagreeing about mommy's bruises?" Rachel asked curiously as she took a bite of her sausage.

The two elder women couldn't help but smile at the young girl's insight. They both nodded soft with a small smile. Lauren resumed her spot in front of them and they began to eat their breakfast again. Rachel saw the two elder women smiling at her as they acted as if everything were okay, but if she learned one thing from her father, it's that everybody lies.

Cuddy came home after dropping Rachel off at the neighbors for a play date. Her mother was sitting in the living room, crossed legs while she read a magazine waiting for Lisa to come home. Lisa stood at the door, hoping her mother hadn't heard it open and stayed there. Her hopes were lost when she heard her mother call for her to come into the living room and stop being such a baby. She reluctantly took off her shoes and inched her way slowly, wanting to avoid this conversation at all costs.

She sat on the couch away from her mother and stared at the ground as if she were an insolent child about to be punished by her mother. The room stayed silent as it did the night before as they both waited for the other to begin. They heard the clock tick as they both sat impatiently and tiredly on the separate couches.

"Lisa, are we going to have to do this the easy way or the hard way?" Her mother asked in a threatening tone that almost scared the information right out of Cuddy.

"Mother, I'm not twelve," She stated, still a big frightened. "You can't scare me with those hollow out, empty threats." She lied as she began to rock back and forth nervously.

"You know, I know James's number. I can call him right now and ask what happened to you. He at least knows something and anything gives me a hint and you know just as well as I do that when I get a hint and start thinking I say my thoughts out loud. So if I happen to come across the correct answer, do you really want James to know and then tell Greg who will probably bother you more than you'd like?" Her mother methodically warned her daughter.

"Mother you wouldn't," Cuddy started in disbelief but saw the seriousness in Lauren's eyes as she reached for the phone. She knew that her mother had James on sped dial ever since she found out that Greg quit. "Mother please, he doesn't know anything." Cuddy bit the corner of her lip nervously.

Cuddy's actions did not go unnoticed by Lauren and she knew that it was a pathetic attempt to lie. "He knows something and I can get off anything you know that." Lauren stated as she held the phone ready to call Wilson in a heart beat.

Cuddy looked from her arm to her mother and sighed in defeat. She knew when she was out maneuvered and she'd rather go down with her dignity then be embarrassed. "Daniel Fisher." That was all she had to say before her mother understood and was instantly by her side to comfort her.

--

Monday came by quickly, but it didn't seem quick enough for House. Walters gave him a new file as usual and he had his employees coming up with theories and testing them. They finally settled upon one theory and began the treatment right before lunch. House told them to eat their lunch quickly and go downstairs to complete his clinic duty. The last three people down there were going to get fired. As they all rushed out, he kept an eye on Cuddy who looked at him blankly and walked out slowly as if she didn't care if she were fired or not.

House got up and followed the last person out of the room. He began to limp towards his office and was met with Vinson along the way. He ignored his friend, whom he was currently envious of, and continued to his office to retrieve something. Vinson noticed the silence and gave a hardy laugh which caused House to look at him inquisitively.

"Man, I didn't think I was right," Vinson stated and saw his friend get even more confused. "At the party, after Cuddy ditched you I told her that I thought you were jealous that she didn't hate me. She didn't believe me so I told her I could prove it. We were barely talking; we were mostly smiling and putting on a show. God, you're so gullible." Vinson chuckled. "In case you forgot, I'm married so I have no interest in her what's so ever."

"I was not jealous nor do I care if you have a thing for the she-devil," House stated as he opened his desk drawers to fish something out. "Yeah I know Walters was the she-devil but now Cuddy is here and I'm sure she'll never let that title go." House surprisingly got out a bag of candy and smirked at Vinson. "But as punishment for trying to trick me, you are going to help pull off my plan."

"What plan?" Vinson asked almost scared as he followed his friend out of the room.

"A plan to find out how Cuddy got hurt." House stated in an obvious tone as they continued down the corridor. As he expected he found mother with child heading towards the cafeteria to spend what little time they had to eat lunch together. "Go talk to Cuddy. Ask her how her arm is or how her day is. Just distract her for at least ten minutes so I can make my escape."

Vinson looked at his friend incredulously. "No," He shook his head. "I am not getting in the middle of one of your games. I know what you're trying to do and if she finds out I helped you she will, not only, not trust me but she'll also kill me with you."

"Oh come on buddy, if you know what my plan is you know that this will be easier than waiting a few years for her to open up to you about her hopes and dreams," House stated. "Now go!"

Vinson stood there hesitantly before he agreed to his friend's lunacy and made his way over to Cuddy. He stopped her before she could turn the corner and began discussing issues about House and hospital and the party as well as Rachel. Cuddy hesitantly joined the conversation and explained everything quickly, wanting to go and eat with her child, but saw that Vinson had a little more to talk about.

House edged closer and hid behind a near by corner. "Pst," He whispered as loud as he could. "Psssst." He whispered just a bit louder until he saw Rachel turn around. He held out a handful of candy to her and she quickly ran towards House, eluding her mother's attention. House quickly scoped her up and limped as fast as he could away from the scene as he gave the 8 year old girl a chocolate bar. He made his way to his office safely and hid the girl under his desk as they began to share the candy.

"Alright munchkin," He began as he poured a bag of gummy worms down his throat. "Why don't you tell me what you've been observing while I was gone?" He saw the girl smile and knew that he had taught her well before he left. He leaned back as Rachel began to state several things that she had noticed from her mother. This was easier than he thought it'd be.

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**A/N: Haha see I told you Vinson was no threat :D He's just a buddy LOL. What did you guys think to House's little plan? Was that a little too creepy? Hahaha Do you all still hate Vinson hehe if you do then you probably wont for long (hint hint) lolol.**

**Well like I said the poll is still on so you still have a chance to vote and this is very important, like I said before, to see where this story is going. And if you have any ideas (like how he comes back) for anything not just the poll tell me hehe I wanna see if any of you guys can read my mine on how he's going to return (if he returns) I hope you all liked it and reviews are very loved**

-Jessica


	8. Lucas Douglas

**Disclaimer: I do not own House**

**A/N: Hehe well I was supposed to have this done by the weekend but, even though I was in searing pain (ik why House is such a jerk now), my rents bribed me with Pizza and Fro Yo to go out and "spend time with them" though all I really did was stay in the car and eat my bribes while they did things that I have no idea of XD haha I do not pay attention whats so even if I am in a bad mood and with my parents haha aren't I just an angel child :D O:)**

**Thank you to everyone who voted SO FAR, the poll is still up and you still have time to stop his return haha. LOL but even if he does come back I dont think I'll have him hurt cuddy.....too much HAHA jk**

**Thanks, as usual, to my beta **Americanchick** for editing this piece and my old beta, who is busy studying (I bet she'll be a doctor one day) **not - lupus . everybody - lies** for pointing out a few mistakes! :D Hope you all like it!**

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"Okay well I noticed that mommy stopped putting chocolate chips in my pancakes and I thought it was weird but it actually taste better," Rachel noted as she began to list random things she had collected over the years. "Mommy has also been using the phone less and—"

"No," House interrupted. "I mean anything suspicious like I don't know… something really out of the ordinary that might suggest that someone hurt your mommy. Like did she threaten anyone or anything?" House redirected.

"Well," Rachel thought for a second as she looked down and reached up for a candy on her father's desk and put it in her mouth. "There was this one time. Mommy got a call from Uncle Lucas," Rachel began as she ate her candy contently.

Lucas. He and House had stayed neutral friends after he and Cuddy broke up, but they were never really the same. He still had a pang of hatred and grudge against Lucas for taking Cuddy when he wanted her. He let go of it a little, but still felt a small twinge of resentment against him when they were mentioned together.

"Then mommy told him to stop or else because it wasn't any of his business and she didn't need him to be some over protective big brother. But she thanked him for caring and told him to just let it go and to not worry or bother the subject ever again and to only investigate something on her if she asks him to." Rachel ended causing House to realize that he had missed part of her observation.

Nonetheless, House smiled at the young girl and patted her head in a job well done. He then noticed that his ten minute warning was up and picked up the little girl. "Now keep quiet, I'm going to take you the scariest place ever," He winked. "We can finish our candy there and if you see mommy, tell me so I can hide before she finds us and ruins out fun okay?" He saw Rachel nod as he picked up the bag of candy. He has trained her well.

--

Cuddy and Vinson had been talking for ten minutes before Cuddy realized that her lunch break was drastically cut. She quickly ended the conversation with the other doctor and turned to where she assumed her daughter was. She was instantly shocked as well as infuriated when she saw her daughter was missing.

"Where did Rachel go?" Cuddy turned to find that Vinson was no longer there and she realized the plot against her.

She clutched her fist angrily and knew exactly who took her daughter. She growled a bit before she took long, quick strides to her asshole boss's office. As she walked in, Cuddy was surprised to see the room empty. She approached the desk and found candy wrappers all over the floor and saw a particular bunch on the ground under House's desk. Mostly the ones that Rachel preferred to eat. She clutched a hand full of wrappers before throwing them over the desk and went to search for another doctor.

Cuddy quickly went down to the cafeteria to find the other doctor she was hunting sitting with Walters as they ate their lunch. She set her jaw and wore a threatening scowl as she approached the table. When she stood on the side of the table, the two doctors looked at her questionably; one wore a look of fright. She turned to the terrified doctor and hardened her glare as she almost growled furiously.

"Do you need something, Dr. Cuddy?" Walters asked when she saw her lunch buddy look up at Cuddy shakily.

"Vinson, where is my daughter?" Cuddy ignored the other woman and focused her anger towards the man that had information. She didn't let him answer before she went on. "I know you know where she is," She continued. "I can not believe that you and House have the nerve to kidnap my daughter from right under my nose and think I would be so idiotic to not realize that you two plotted against me?" Cuddy accused him knowingly.

"You kidnapped her daughter?" Walters looked at Vinson incredulously as her mouth hung open and she jumped out of her seat surprised.

"We did not kidnap her daughter," Vinson lied poorly. "And I don't know where your daughter is Cuddy. I didn't even know she was here." He was a bad liar and knew it, but he tried nonetheless.

"Vinson, either you tell me where House is hiding my daughter, and I let _you_ off easy, or you both will have hell to pay." Cuddy offered, somewhat kindly.

"Dr. Cuddy, I know you are upset about what these two i_mbeciles_ have done, but I think you should calm down a bit and not threaten Dr. Vinson. I'm pretty sure that Dr. House tricked him into helping." Dr. Walters tried to calm down the infuriated woman, who practically had steam coming out of her ears.

"Oh I am _damn_ sure that House _convinced_ Vinson to help him." Cuddy kept her eyes locked on the man in front of her, but did calm down a bit at the superior woman's request. She took a deep breath and decided to re-approach the predicament as she sat next to Vinson. "William, I know you probably did this because House told you it was for me own well being, but Rachel is only 8 years old. She doesn't know anything and if House says something on accident or takes her somewhere not very safe it might scare her or give her nightmares. I don't even know what House is going to do to her. He might hurt her, unintentionally of course, but do you want to help House do that to the poor little girl who's 8th birthday was only a few days ago?" She wore a faux sadden face as she spoke gently to Vinson.

Walters stared at the woman with a cocked brow and a gawked at her quick change in maneuver. She noticed the immediate guilt that appeared on Vinson's face and saw how well Cuddy held her end to milk the feeling of remorse and sympathy. She put that in her mental notebook and couldn't help but be a little impress at the show that Cuddy was displaying. She saw Vinson lower his gaze, not being able to stare into Cuddy's artificial heartbroken expression, and knew that Cuddy had won the battle.

"House is hiding her in Dr. Walter's office until the end of her lunch break then he was going to hide her in the morgue until you found him… or he ran out of candy." Vinson let out reluctantly.

"My office," Walters interjected angrily. "God, you guys are lucky you are damn good doctors or else your asses would be fired starting now!"

Cuddy sighed at the lunacy and nodded. She was about to leave with Walters to scream at House, but Vinson stopped her momentarily. "And Lisa, I didn't mean to hurt Rachel, House would never hurt her in any way – mental or physical – and we were really looking out for you." He apologized regretfully.

Cuddy bit back a smirk as she kept on her act. She gave Vinson a small smile and responded, "I understand and that was kind of you Vinson. Thank you," She said before she wore a victorious smirk and walked out to hunt down a soon to be extinct cripple.

--

House sat at his boss's desk with his legs propped on the table as he sucked on a lollipop and talked on the phone with some random person who called while Rachel sat on his good leg. She giggled as she heard her father tell off the person on the phone. She ate her ice sandwich – which House had swiped from Vinson when they ran into each other while both were running from Cuddy – and smiled with chocolate all over her teeth. House laughed as he hung up the phone and grabbed Rachel's arm before taking a bite of the sweet ice cream.

"Uh-oh," Rachel suddenly said which caused House to look at her inquisitively. "Mommy and that lady are coming." She pointed out the door as they both saw the two angry women approaching the room.

"Hide Rachel, hide." House told her as he put her under the desk before the women could be close enough to see what he was doing. "Now remember, no matter what keep your head hidden and don't say anything. You might want to close your ears too; you know how hot the volcano gets when it explodes." He warned her and she listened obediently.

"House," Cuddy shrieked as she stormed into the office before Walters could. "How _dare_ you _kidnap_ my daughter, you must be the most insane man I have ever had the _displeasure_ of meeting." Cuddy chose her words precisely to emphasize how outraged she was.

"I have no idea what you are talking about," House acted as he crossed his legs on his boss's desk.

"House, get your feet off my desk," Walters commanded as she picked up House's legs one by one and dropped them to the ground. "Now return Dr. Cuddy's child to her right now. You are damn lucky she isn't suing you for this." Walters stated.

"Like I just told Cuddles, Walters, I have no idea where her daughter is." House shrugged as he looked from one woman to the other. "That reminds me, Cuddles shouldn't you be doing my Clinic duty?" House asked her.

Cuddy continued to glare defiantly before Walters began to lecture once more. "House, your employees are here to do your clinic duty, they are here to—"

"Don't bother," Cuddy interrupted Walters as she kept her glare on House. "He'll never listen. At least with his lackey's doing it, it gets done where as if you leave him to it it'll keep piling itself up." Cuddy stated expertly. "Now give me my daughter House." She growled between clenched teeth.

House rolled his eyes and just stared at Cuddy with a smirk, he didn't feel like repeating himself. "Oh and Dr. Walters, I should tell you. Maybe you should call Mr. Hanson, Mr. Hugh, and Mr. Garson back before they withdraw all their donations."

Walters opened her mouth to speak, but was once again interrupted by Cuddy. "Don't waste your breath on him. The damage he's done is already done, just call back those donors and just tell them what they want to hear, that House is getting punished and that anything he said was completely wrong. You might just need to say that it was him, at least one of the three is going to feel flattered that the infamous Dr. House spoke to them." Cuddy suggested.

House smirked and cocked a brow. "Wow Cuddles, all those years of power actually gave you very good insight. Are you sure you shouldn't be here stealing Walters's job?" House asked her knowingly and smiled when he saw her roll her eyes.

Cuddy sighed and kept her glare on House until she noticed two pair of small feet sticking out from under the table. She approached House threateningly and stood over him. With him sitting, it seemed like she was the bigger person and could easily hurt him.

"You know, all I have to do is stand up and I'll be taller than you again, right?" House asked in matter-of-factual tone. He looked down from her face and stared straight ahead to her chest. "But I really do enjoy this position."

Cuddy smirked as she leaned down and put her hands on the chair's armrest. This arrangement made it very easy for House to see down Cuddy's shirt and he's jaw dropped when he saw Cuddy send him a seductive look. She leaned forward towards him and he tried to keep his eyes open while he waited for her lips to meet him. He saw a victorious smirk form on Cuddy's face as she pushed him backwards until the chair collided with the wall.

"God House, you are so easy to manipulate." She rolled her eyes as she picked her daughter up off the floor. "Hey Rachel did daddy do anything to you?" She asked her daughter in a soft voice, but she saw the smile on Rachel's face and that was the only answer she needed. She frowned as she began to leave the office, but turned before she opened the door. "Oh and House, we aren't even." She challenged as she sashayed out.

House smiled when he saw an extra bounce in her step. He was starting to bring the energy back into Cuddy. He noted that as they spoke and as she manipulated him, he saw – even if only for a second – the color flash back brightly into her blue-gray eyes. He also saw how the color, though very unnoticeable, was slowly starting to reappear on her skin. He had brought the Cuddy he knew back to life, even if only for the day, and if that was possible, maybe it was possible to bring her back fully.

First things first, though. He had to make a few calls and find out what exactly happened to his Cuddy and knew the perfect investigator for the job.

Lucas Douglas.

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**A/N: Okay you probably wonder why I bothered putting Walters in here cuz she doesnt seem that important, but actually she is very important!! Hahaha can anyone tell why she is so important? Haha I feel so cool, foreshadowing in my stories and all!! haha**

**Don't worry about Lucas everyone. There is definately NO LUDDY in this story, i mean i am cool with Luddy since it brings Huddy closer and closer but I'm not writing it here haha. I'm not even sure if I'll be having Lucas show up in person, so no worries haha,**

**The poll is still up for debate. So far the bring him backs are still ahead (I decided to go by poll since its easier to keep track off so if you voted by review but not by poll you can go vote now) The talk about him but dont bring him back is in second and the keep him away is still last, so if you don't want Daniel back in person hurry and vote!!**

**As always reviews are loved and are very encouraging :D**

-Jessica


	9. Private Conversation

**Disclaimer: I do not own House**

**A/N: Soooo sorry I would have had this done so much sooner but OMG my last week of school has been INSANE!!! seriously! I had a break down!! TWO TIMES! but I'm better now! If you havent read the news on my profile page I am on Christmas Break so I will try to update 24/7 but I am currently OBSESSED with this new book called Reincarnation by Suzanne Weyn! Its awesome! If you read it tell me I just got to their Greek lives hehe**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed! You guys are awesome! The poll seems to be done so I'll be ending it soon probably rigth before I post the next chapter**

**Hehe my old beta, **not - lupus . everybody - lies** is back as my beta :D So yeah lets give thanks to her for QUICKLY beta-ing this!**

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House entered the lecture hall to see all his employees waiting for him. A few looking confident because they had gotten to the clinic just in time, and a few that looked afraid. He turned to his favorite candidate and saw her leaning back confidently and uncaringly. He narrowed his eyes, playfully and in mock threat, as he approached her desk. She simply smiled up at him and raised a brow. It annoyed him how calm she stayed and he fought hard not to smile. His actions were obvious to her and her smirk just grew wider. Damn her.

"You think just because you were my old boss that you don't need to worry about anything?" He asked her as he cocked his own brow. He saw her work hard to keep the smirk from turning into a smile and letting out a soft laugh.

"It's more of not caring than it is not worrying," She shot back wittily as she shot him a challenging smirk that he almost couldn't turn down.

They kept their stare down, House intensifying his glare as Cuddy stayed cool, calm and collected. Without breaking eye contact House call out, "Numbers 26, 18, and 12 thanks for playing." He saw Cuddy's smirk widen, if that was possible, and even heard a small chuckle escape from her sealed lips.

"What?" Eighteen stood up angrily as the other two just left without causing a scene. "I was there before those two and her! She never even showed up! You said the last three to show up are fired! Just because she can shake her ass means she can keep her job?" He shouted angrily.

Before House could respond, Cuddy stood up straight and narrowed her eyes at him. "I didn't keep this job because I know how to "shake my ass" as you said. I kept my job _because_ I didn't show up at the Clinic. He clearly said "the last three employees to _show up_ in the clinic get fired." I didn't show up at all so I automatically kept the job." House smirked at her insight. She knew him all too well. Eighteen stood there still angered as he thought of something to say. "Don't be upset because you weren't smart enough to listen to his warning." Before eighteen could respond Cuddy spoke again. "Why don't you just leave quietly and go while you still have a little bit of pride." She certainly knew how to make an employee feel fired, albeit she wasn't the boss anymore.

Eighteen furrowed his brows in defeat and looked down regretfully. He picked up his belongings and began to leave the room passing by Cuddy, who simply gave him a smirk of victory. He left with little to no pride. House stared at Cuddy a bit admirably as she watched the crude man walk out, though he would never actually admit that he sometimes respected her.

"Greg," Sarah called pulling House out of his trance. He hadn't realized he had been staring at Cuddy absentmindedly. "My shifts over and Walters said you're done for the day, let's go home." She informed him as she sent a glare at Cuddy, who had turned to look at the couple after she heard House's name being called.

"Right, everyone is dismissed." House called out as he looked at Cuddy almost sadly. He noticed her proud expression replaced by disappointment as she got ready to leave. "Cuddy, can I talk to you for a second." He called out, cryptically nervous.

" Yes, Dr. House?" She asked formally as she obviously put up her defensive walls.

House walked over to his desk and took out a white plastic bag from beneath it. He went back to Cuddy and held up the plastic bag to her as he averted his eyes. When he felt the bag still in his hands after several seconds he looked up and saw Cuddy looking at the plastic bag suspicious and a bit confused.

He cleared his throat before answering. "It's for, um, Rachel," He hated showing that he cared, especially when it came to Rachel. His relationship with Rachel was a secret until Cuddy had barged into his office when Rachel was three and found them sharing lunch. She never let him live it down either. That when she started bringing Rachel directly to House and let them spend time together, that was until he quit.

"Thank you," Cuddy spoke hesitantly as she reached for the bag slowly to see if it were some trick. She opened it to make sure it was just candy and found a variety of candy that looked like it had been collected by a child on a trick-or-treat mission.

"I'm sure with you as her mother; she probably doesn't get candy much and is fed 'healthy' vegetables." House stated as he tried to deflect his true intentions of caring and kindness.

Cuddy held back a smile as she saw past his deflections. Was this really the man that had left her and Rachel several years ago? She saw House turn around and look at her when she hadn't responded to his makeshift insult, though she took at as a compliment about the good eating habits she was enforcing on her daughter.

House saw a small sparkle in her eyes as she looked at him almost commendably. He also noted a small smile that was placed upon her soft, pink lips. He internally smiled at the positive results he was looking for in Cuddy. The small twinkle in her eyes stayed and seemed like it would be there permanently, or so House hoped.

"Rachel will love this," She finally spoke out softly. "Thank you," She looked down at the bag and then smirked playfully as she looked up at him. "This doesn't make us even though. I'm still going to get you back for kidnapping my daughter and almost giving me a heart attack." She stated almost jokily.

House returned the smug smile. "Threatening your boss are we, Dr. Cuddy?" He joked back. "That isn't very smart unless you were trained properly."

Cuddy bit back a chuckle and grinned. "Well I did learn from the best," She shot back as he had expected.

Before House could respond Sarah broke up their short moment. "Greg," She called out jealously which caused both doctors to look at her. "Come on, let's go home." She commanded firmly, not missing the small fire that was reigniting from these two.

House turned back to Cuddy once again sadly and saw a reflection of his expression on her face as well. Before he could say anything, he was once again beaten by his new boss this time.

"Dr. Cuddy, may I have a word with you in my office," Walters asked from the back door. She had been standing there unnoticed for several minutes and had caught most of what had happened, even before House's old employees left.

Cuddy nodded at her superior. She turned to House forlornly and let out a weak smile. "Thanks again for the candy. I'm sure Rachel will at least appreciate the effort when I tell her about it." She stated, hinting that she wouldn't give the whole bag to her daughter. "Goodnight, Dr. House." She gave a faint smile before following Walters out.

House stood there for a moment and bit back a smile from the sparkle in her eyes. He turned around when he heard Sarah clear her throat and he put his arm around her as they walked out. He calmed her down a bit and lied, saying that the gesture was so she wouldn't hurt him for kidnapping Rachel. She sighed and accepted the lie and snuggled into his touch when they passed the two female doctors. House looked back at Cuddy who gave him a quick glance before disappearing into devil number 2's office.

"Dr. Cuddy," Walters began as she pulled out Cuddy's file. "We have something very important to discuss."

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**A/N: Ooooh what was Walters talking to Cuddy about?? Do you have any ideas? I wanna hear all your thoughts and predictions!**

**I hoped you all liked it and I am SUPER sorry it was soo short. I will try to make the next chapter longer! :D Reviews are all very encouraging!!**

-Jessica


	10. Trade Off

**Disclaimer: I do not own House**

**A/N: Hehe okay so I finally edited this and I added in a few new lines and changed a little, but not really that much LOL. This is self-beta-ed but....i waas kinda doin my nails while editing so if there are a few mistakes I'm sorry ^^ **

**Thanks to** Southern Cowgirl** and** GreGgles** for their AWESOME nicknames!!! hehehe without them this chapter wouldnt be as awesome! XD**

**Please enjoy!**

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House was called into work early on Tuesday after the patient had crashed. He was a bit surprised to see Cuddy still sitting at one of the desks as confident as ever. What did Walters talk to her about? She didn't give Cuddy immunity to get fired, that was his job and she obviously didn't fire her. What could they have possible discuss? She seemed too self-assured for their talk to have just been discussion over coffee, Walters told her something and he needed to know what.

"Alright everyone," House decided to push the thought to the back of his head. "So why did the patient suddenly seize? I thought you all said she was getting better." He sounded a bit annoyed, though it was just a simple act, he didn't really care.

He let his applicants bounce around several ideas before firing two of them for being complete idiots, 32 and 6. They suggested two outrageous diseases; he wondered why they weren't the first to leave. That meant that he only had to fire one more person and he'd have his team. One thing's for sure: he knows who he _isn't_ firing.

When Sarah showed up to spend sometime with her beloved boyfriend, House dismissed everyone to test out their individual theories, and the one who got it right would choose the two candidates that House would get to pick from to fire. He'd probably give them a test before firing them, though. He had a feeling who'd win the little challenge, but he could be wrong. It has been done before.

As Sarah spoke to him and cuddled with him, his minded drifted. Lucas said he'd get the research in by that day when he had only called the day before. That meant either Lucas already had the research and was going to hand deliver them or he was getting a little too cocky. Either way, House was hoping he'd manage. This was probably his only way to get the information he needed and, more importantly, wanted. Unless he was actually willing to wait the months it would take to gain Cuddy's trust and get her to just tell him – obviously he wouldn't.

House was pulled out of his thoughts when he realized Sarah had stopped speaking and was now staring at him annoyed. She had done that several times through their long relationship and he never understood why she'd never told them they needed to talk. He concluded that either she was madly in love with him or she was just not the type of person who liked to be single. Whichever the reason was, it had some how kept them together longer than any other relationship he had with anyone at that hospital. House began to consider that it could be a bet to see how long she'd last with him and if it was, she was probably winning.

"I better check on the idiots," House stated as he stood up and broke her stare on him. "Hopefully they haven't kill the patient yet or blown up the lab." He began to limp out of the room with Sarah following right behind him. She quickened her pace to catch up and grabbed hold on his arm so they could walk down together.

They got closer to the lab before Sarah stopped House right in front of the open door and looked at him with sad eyes. "Oh Greggles, I'm sorry, but I must get to work." She pouted a bit.

House merely cleared his throat and looked at her embarrassedly. "Sarah," He began in a hushed tone. "I told you not to call me that at work, especially not in front of my lackeys." He told her sternly while pointing at his employees, who were discreetly listening in.

Sarah merely chuckled and gave him a playful push on the shoulder. "Oh Greggles, calm down." She smiled. "It's my special pet name for you. Don't you like it?" She gave a small pup pout. House mumbled something under his breath. She leaned up and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. "Now I have some work to do, be good Greggles." She smiled as she sauntered off.

House walked in after he straightened his suit and cleared off any look of emotion from his face. He looked around and saw everyone at least trying to act as if they hadn't heard a thing or laugh. When he turned to his favorite employee, he saw her smiling brightly, not acting at all as she looked through her microscope testing for whatever disease she had suggested.

"What are you so happy about?" He asked her as he narrowed his eyes. He saw her stand up and she pulled her slide out of the microscope as her smile simply widened.

"Me?" She asked in mock shock. "Oh, nothing," She grinned as she began to walk passed him to another table. "Greggles," She whispered as she brushes his shoulder. She began to giggle light heartedly as she picked up another slide to look at.

House's eyes narrowed more as he let out a deep, low growl. "Ha-ha," He said dully. "That's so hilarious." He rolled his eyes when he saw Cuddy not even try to hold in her full laughter.

After her fit of amusement Cuddy put down the two fragile, glass slides she had between her fingers and looked up at her boss with a warm smile. "Alright, I have a proposition for you." She told him in a way he remembered from Princeton.

She had one of those half wicked smiles, like from the time they had a wager for Clinic duty. For every patient he had to touch to diagnose he gave her ten dollars and every patient he didn't touch she'd pay him. It was most fun for him and he had won of course, only loosing a hand full of patients for various reasons but it was beneficial to both sides. That was probably the only time she didn't necessarily have to _force_ him to do clinic work.

"Fine, what is it?" He asked suspiciously as he came out of memory lane.

A knowing sigh came out of Cuddy's mouth as she gave him another warm smile. "I'll stop calling you Greggles if you stop calling me Cuddles." She smirked. "A nickname for a nickname," She knew she was bargaining with the devil, but she found it fun.

"Awe, but Cuddles, that's my special nickname, specially picked out for you." He stated in faux hurt tone. He saw her shrug carelessly as she continued to smirk, waiting for him to fold. "Fine," He agreed bitterly, but thought of a quick replacement. "I'll stop calling you Cuddles, Party Pants." He smirked back at her victoriously believing he had won.

Cuddy closed her eyes and shook her head. She knew this would be fun. "Oh I'm fine with that," She smiled competitively, ready to play his game. "Sweet Sauce," she crossed her arms.

House narrowed his eyes accepting her challenge as their battle began. "Cuddy-kins," He threw out.

"Tinkle winkle," She shot back not missing a beat.

"Dr. McFunBags," He began to close what little space they had between them.

"Dr. McCane." One step and they were standing face-to-face and chest-to-chest as they both stared into each other's eyes, with their own competitive edge.

"She-devil," He decided.

"Banshee," She quickly retorted.

"Succubus,"

"Incubus,"

"Harpy,"

"Prude,"

"Prune,"

"Bastard,"

"Bitch,"

"Felon,"

"Perjurer,"

"Drug addict,"

"Ex-drug addict," He quickly corrected her a bit defensively. "Godzilla," Though the game wasn't over.

"Sorry," She apologized quickly, albeit she wasn't ready to give up either. "Tiny,"

House thought a bit for his next come back. She had just insulted his jewel; he'd have to think of something good. A smirk appeared on his face as it came to him. "How now brown cow?" He recited with a chuckle.

Cuddy pouted a bit. "That's not very nice, E.D." She told him in false hurt.

House looked at her in a bit of confusion. "E.D.?" He took a step back and cocked his brow.

Cuddy's lips curled into a victorious and mischievous smirk. "It's short for," She narrowed her eyes knowing she'd won. "Erectile dysfunction," She chuckled as she grabbed her slides and walked right passed him back to her microscope.

House stood there a bit bewildered. He looked up to see all his employees had been watching them intently but quickly returned to their work. He couldn't help but chuckle a bit as he made his way over to his obviously worthy opponent.

"When and how did you suddenly get so witty?" He asked her in part compliment. He saw her blush so she obviously caught it. "Last time I left you, you were…" He didn't really know what to say. Last time he had see her before Boston she was witty, charming, had a beautiful laugh, so there wasn't much change, other then her distance and abrasiveness – which he was working on fixing – she was the same woman from four years ago.

Cuddy's smile suddenly disappeared at the memory of what had happened in Princeton. She looked serious as she bent over to look into her microscope and addressed her boss without looking at him. "Last time you left me, I was your boss so obviously I had _some_ wit to get there." She retorted in a dull and almost cold tone.

House damned himself as he realized that he had just helped her partially put up a wall that he had worked hard to throw down. He thought of something to help him recover the momentary relapse. "Well yeah, I expected you to be pretty witty," He complimented uncharacteristically and shyly. "I mean that's one of the reasons Lucas dated you, or so he told me." He spoke awkwardly. He didn't really enjoy that part of their life when Cuddy belonged to Lucas, but he knew it was some of the best months she had and would help him recover from the setback quickly.

"Thank you," Cuddy told him hesitantly once more, as she did the day before with the bag of candy. She hadn't expected that from House and it was definitely not in his nature, but she couldn't help but appreciate the effort he took to trying to make her feel better.

House cleared his throat to end the moment and hid behind his walls for a little. He watched his employees as they all worked until Walters came in curiously with a manila envelope resting in her hands. She was very tempted to open it, but it belonged to House and if she opened it she knew he'd get back at her by invading her privacy more than he already had.

"House," She called out causing him and Cuddy to look at her. "Some man just came by and dropped his off, asking me to give it to you. I think he said his name was Lu—"

"Thank you," House interrupted as he snatched the envelope from her hands. "Looks like my monthly playboy prescription has arrived," He lied. "Bye Walters," He shooed her away before turning to his employees. "Now if you don't mind I'm going to be alone in my office. Only disturb me if you are _all_ wrong. If someone is magically correct cure the patient and go get lunch or something. Just don't bother me." He told them before he quickly limped out. He knew when it came to dirt Lucas was the best man around and he didn't want Cuddy to know he was snooping again.

--

Vinson rushed into House's office panting and looked at him incredulously. "I thought you paged me saying you were hurt and needed my help." He let out tiredly. "I was downstairs in the lobby and ran all the way up here, what the hell is going on?"

"First off you idiot, if I was hurt I wouldn't have been able to page you," House rolled his eyes. "Second off, my private investigator friend came by and dropped off a few things he found out about Cuddy." House began to go through a few pictures as the note lay scattered on his desk.

"Wow, that was fast," Vinson picked up one of the note and began to skim through it. "And that's a lot of information. Didn't you say you called him just yesterday?"

"He collected these over the last four years," House stated as he furrowed his brows and focused on one picture in particular. "Some creep, other than the P.I., has been following Cuddy. He had the right to be suspicious." He gave the picture to Vinson to look over.

Vinson suddenly put down the picture and looked at House curiously. He saw House keep his eyes on the pictures so he just asked. "If you're so concerned about her right now, why did you even leave Princeton?" He cocked his brow. "If you had stayed there, you could have kept an eye on her 24/7."

House heard the question and furrowed his brows as he began to recall the day he quit.

--

Flashback

_House had awoken that day in deep thought. He had been Rachel's father figure for over a year, but he saw no improvement in his relationship with Cuddy. Though his bonding with the young child had started as a scheme to grain the mother's heart, he began to grow fond of the baby and began to have an odd desire to be in her life not just as a father figure but just as a father. He wasn't sure how Cuddy had felt yet and he was too afraid to take a chance, not after what had happened during Lucas. He wanted to play it safe and decided to just gauge her reaction to what he says and does._

_As he walked through the doors earlier than usual, he quickly signed in and headed straight for his Boss's office. He picked his way through her door and sat himself comfortably until they arrived. He was pleased to see that it wouldn't take them long when he peaked through her shades before he leaned back in the couch relaxed._

_When Cuddy walked in he saw her smile at him as though she had expected him to be waiting for them. She hastily made her way to her desk to unpack and begin to work. She was obviously late so that only meant one thing._

_"Where's your precious angel?" He asked her, trying to hide the sincerity in his voice. He did find Rachel cute and it was rare when he let it slip and call her 'their' angel. _

_His question was answered when he heard a little girl cry Daddy as she ran in and hopped onto his good leg, giving him a warm hug in the process. He smiled happily and saw Cuddy smile back at him. He tried to focus on the little princess on his leg, but couldn't help but glance at her mother a few times._

_"Where's your daddy?" He asked jokily. Some how it had become an odd sort of inside joke between him and Rachel, he noticed Cuddy start to catch on but she couldn't really get the grip of the joke._

_"Right here," He heard her respond as she grabbed his nose and pulled off the fake skin he had applied onto it. He had a feeling that Rachel and Cuddy were both amazed at how well he could 'guess' where Rachel would pull, but truth be told he put fake skin anywhere he thought a baby would pull. Even places he didn't think she'd pull, just to be safe._

_House chuckled as Rachel laughed happily and he put her down on the floor gently. "Why don't you go get me a lollipop, you know the kind I like." He winked as the girl obliged and ran out to the Clinic. He knew the nurses couldn't deny her anything she asked and they could get mad at him, but never at her._

_He looked up to see Cuddy smiling at him lovingly as she watched them admirably. House knew that it was now or never, he had to gauge Cuddy's reaction or else he'd never do it. He looked down in remorse of what he was about to say._

_"I quit," He spit out quickly to get it over with. He looked up from the corner of her eye and thought he saw the look of confusion so he promptly said the words he would regret. "I'm sick of playing daddy for your little brat." He held back the tears as he thought of leaving Rachel when they were so close._

_He heard Cuddy gasped and when he glanced up, he saw anger, pure anger, or so he assumed. "House, don't do this…"He heard her beg. Did that mean she wanted him to stay in her life? "Rachel has fallen in love with you, you can't just leave her." He heard her try to convince him._

_So she just wanted him around for Rachel, but he didn't even know if she, herself, liked him. They fought each and everyday for stupid reason, so he didn't really expect her to be in love with him. He's tried to change, but it wasn't enough. He knew he'd have to end everything right here and right now. He took a deep breath as he prepared to say probably the biggest lie he has ever told._

_"I told you," He hid his feelings of hurt and sorrow. "I'm sick of playing that brat's father." He let out angrily, though he was angry at himself not really at the girls. He glanced up for a moment and saw what he had seen the whole time, pure and utter anger. _

_"Just leave then," He heard her command. "Get the hell out of here." There was his confirmation. She never really wanted him around; she was just putting Rachel ahead of herself as usual. _

_He walked out and saw Rachel coming back towards him. Why had it taken her so long? He shrugged off the question and pulled her aside for privacy. He kneeled on his good knee painfully as he looked at her with sorrow._

_"Rachel, sweetie," He began softly and made sure no one could hear him. He was only caring towards Rachel and he didn't want anyone seeing and ruining his hard worked for cold hearted reputation. "I'm going to leave for a little bit. I don't know when or if I'll be back, but I want you to take care of yourself and your mother got it? And watch out for anything suspicious things, like I taught you." He asked her firmly and got a sad nod from her. "Ok that's a good girl. Now go into her office and promise me you'll be good?" He saw her tear up as she realized his was leaving. "Please don't cry, I promise I'll be back." He lied, he couldn't take her tears. It'd ruin everything._

_"Okay daddy," She agreed sadly. "Here's your lollipop." She handed him the juicy, red candy. She wiped her tears away and he knew that she had decided to hold a tough front. She gave him a big, warm, tight hug. "I'm going to miss you daddy." She whispered into his ear._

_"You too, Rach," He whispered back as he gave her a soft kiss on the forehead and pushed her along towards the office gently. He watched as she walked in timidly as she waved goodbye to him._

_Now he could go, get out of their lives, hoping, thinking and believing it was best for them._

--

House cleared his throat and shook his head. "The only reason I care right now is because she got hurt, nothing else." He deflected. Leaving was the hardest choice for him, but it had to be done. Though now he realized it was probably wrong and regretted it. But he had a chance to fix it, to make things better and he hoped that it was for the better.

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**A/N: I bet you guys didn't really think that House had a side to this story did you? hehe well he diiid haha what did you all think of it though? **

**Well the poll is officially closed and I added up the votes from the reviews too and the results are still the same as the poll on my page. You can look and that can be your special sneak peak lolol. The result, if you dont look, will be revealed in either the next chapter or maybe the chapter after that. Hehe but reeeeally soon. Oh and the poll results will only be up for limited time, maybe up till New Years Eve in case you decide last minute to get a spoiler**

**Reviews are all read and appriciated!! :D Ya'll are so nice**

-Jess (yes i went back to nicknames XD)


	11. Caring is Sharing

**Disclaimer: I do not own House**

**A/N: Heeeeeeey guuuuuuys :D Sooooooo..... who doesn't hate me yet :D anyone? Anyone?! Yeah I hate myself too XD lol I am sooooooo soooo soooo soo SOOOOOO sorry I haven't updated in FOREVERS!!!! I have been sooooo busy!! And I have barely been on teh computer!! My sister was here and I was busy having fun with her and then she left on Sunday :( But I didnt have time to write and I had major writer's block for a lil thats why this chapter is sooo short! I am soooooo sorry!! Really! I am!! Can you guys find it in your hearts to forgive me :3 Pleeease!! I am trying to manage my time better and HOPEFULLY it'll work!!!! I have a four day weekend - I am going to post my Valentine Story on Sunday if anyone reads my holiday series - and I will try to get as much writing done as possible! I promise!!! Well, even though its short I hope you all like it. I am posting it now - during school - because I wont be home until SUPER late tonight. Gotta take pictures for my school dance. ANYWAYS yea I hope you all like it and please don't hate my anymore!!!! I'm back from the place ppl disappear from XD**

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"Daddy!" Rachel squealed when she saw House and Vinson approach their table slowly. She immediately jumped out of her seat into his arms, instantly snuggling into his neck. "Are you gonna stay for lunch daddy," She looked at him cutely with her eyes begging.

House looked over at Cuddy, who gave a sigh and nodded reluctantly. He bit back a smile as he took Rachel's previous seat, next to Cuddy and began to steal food off hers and Jacob's trays. Jacob and Lauren scooted over around the circular table to make room for Vinson.

"So no luck with the diagnosis? Who won?" House asked, as he avoided his true intentions for as long as possible.

"Anderson," Cuddy said as she slapped his hand off her tray, but he was still able to steal a fry and put it in his mouth. "And why don't you stop being cheap and get your own damn lunch." She shot him a glare.

"Who's Anderson?" House looked confused, he hadn't learned his employee's names yet and he didn't plan to anytime soon. "And I don't need to buy food because sharing is caring, and we all know you care about me." House batted his eyes jokily as he reached for another French fry.

"Number six," Cuddy stated as she yanked the tray away before he could get it and slapped his hand harder as she gave him another glare. "I know caring is sharing, that's why I'm not sharing with you." She told him coldly as she took a bite of her food and guarded it from House's grubby hands. She mocked up by chewing it slowly.

"Here daddy," Rachel smiled cutely, stealing House's attention away from Cuddy. "I care about you." She told him adoringly as she took her food and offered it to him lovingly.

"See, every female Cuddy loves me but you." He turned back to Cuddy. "Hell, even your sister has a crush on me. Why don't you stop being stubborn and join them all?" House asked as he began to share some food with Rachel.

"Well, I recall one jerky employee saying that I was too damn stubborn to follow any trends, and he said he rather enjoyed the fact that I didn't follow fads." Cuddy smirked as she stole a bite of House's recently acquired food.

"Hey! Why are you taking from me?" House whined. "If you've forgotten I'm your boss now." He narrowed his eyes into a glare as Cuddy smirked at him playfully. He knew there was still a hint of old Cuddy in her, but something was still holding her back. He just knew it.

"Because I paid for it, Rachel's my daughter and because you care." She pulled him out of his train of thought and smiled as she put the fry in her mouth and continued to mock him.

"Anyways," Vinson cut in, seeing that the two doctors weren't going to stop anytime soon. "House don't you have something to ask Dr. Andrews?" He looked at House sternly, as if he were his mother.

"Oh yeah, I need you in my office in a few minutes," House ordered nonchalantly. "I need you as a consult for something," He said a bit more seriously.

Jacob looked at him curiously. "Why? I thought you said after we found the diagnosis we could relax." He stated a bit suspicious. He narrowed his eyes and glared at House, as if by just staring at him he could decipher all his plots and plans.

"Just do it," House ordered more sternly as he looked at Jacob with his own glare. "Now Vinson and I are going to go, you better be in my office in 10 minutes." He gave a hallow threat.

He and Vinson quickly stood up and left. Cuddy stared after them curiously, with the same suspicion as her cousin. Something had to be up. She turned to face Jacob and saw him look at her sadly and annoyed. Lauren and Lisa both motioned for him to go and he did as he was told and followed the two superiors.

Jacob walked into his boss's office with a bit of confusion and anger. He had just been pulled out of his lunch with his dear cousin, beautiful second cousin, and loving Aunt with no explanation. More importantly he was pulled away by someone he could barely stand. They were at a truce though, ever since Rachel's birthday party, but both men knew at any moment it could end.

"What do you want, House?" Jacob asked in an annoyed tone as he entered the room with the two men waiting expectantly and a bit impatiently. His eyes instantly fell upon a picture that House was holding up towards his face.

The picture was in black and white and was in front of a grocery store in Princeton. Jacob could clearly see his cousin walking in and was a bit confused. House gave it to him to study until he found what was wrong with it. Jacob looked over it for thirty seconds before something caught his eye. He saw a car drive up right behind Lisa and a familiar man was in it. He couldn't put his finger on who the man was but he looked familiar. He grabbed another photo, one with Lisa going home and the car was tailing her own with the same man. After looking at several more pictures and finding the same man over and over Jacob began to feel infuriated. Was this man _just_ following his cousin or could he also have threatened her?

"Who the hell is that guy?" Jacob asked, failing to hide the evident anger in his voice. He looked up from the picture to House and Vinson's disappointed and somewhat distressed faces. "What?"

"Well you kept in contact with her and we were hoping you knew," Vinson told him in a solemn tone. "Does he look familiar to you in any way at all?" He urged Jacob to search his deep subconscious for any clue on who the creep that was following their colleague was.

Jacob stayed silent for a while thinking. House was a very impatient man and didn't even wait five minutes before he grabbed the clearest picture there was and shoved it in his face. "Think you idiot think! You're cousin's life could be on the line! Who the hell is this bastard?" House shouted with a bit more emotion then he had intended. "If he's dangerous I want him far away from _me_," He attempted to recover.

In silence, Jacob sent House a glare. He grabbed the photo roughly out of his hand and stared at it intently. The face did look very familiar, but to whom it belonged to was very sketchy. He tried to focus harder when he heard House sigh with annoyance. After a few more seconds of staring at the picture, it suddenly hit Jacob. It couldn't have been the same man though, that was nearly impossible.

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**A/N: Like I said I am SUUUUPER sorry this was sooo short!! I wish it was longer but well you all know how I am with cliffys. The next chapter, I will try to make it longer. Even if there isnt a cliffy and it'll probably be more exciting! :3 This is where your votes come into play and I'm sorry but I took down the last poll, if you didnt already go for a spoiler then you'll have to wait till the next chapter which I HOPE will be up soon!! Sorry again for the long wait!!! If you don't hate me yet, or even if you do, please review! I wanna hear your thoughts and I'd LOVE some suggestions for an arc! Thanks!**

-Jess


	12. Gone So Bad

**A/N: Hey guys, so sorry it took forever to update. My mom had the computer in hawaii so I had to wait a week before I could even start writing, but hey I'm getting better at scheduling my time.... kinda. LOL anyways, if anyone reviewed or tried to PM me I am sooo sorry!! I have no idea how but my account suddenly disabled all alerts and private messaging, luckily I caught it! So yeah sorry if I haven't responded.**

**Also, sorry about the ending to this. It's a little rushed because it 3:30, I'm tired and I didnt know how tp really end this chapter lol. So yeah. This is self edited so if there are any mistakes, again I am tired and I am just thinking about going to sleep. LOL, again apologizing for the long wait and I hope you all like this chapter. Daniel Fisher comes in, and I just realized, I use the name Daniel too much lol, so dont get him confused with the loser from the first chapter lol. ENJOY!**

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"Bye mommy," Rachel gave her mother a great big hug before hopping from her arms into her grandmother's arms. "Tell daddy bye for me and I love you guys this much." She stretched her arms out as far as she could.

"We love you that much too sweet heart," Cuddy smiled and sent her daughter a big air kiss with a loud 'mwah' sound, which Rachel of course gave back. With a smile still plastered on her face, Cuddy watched as her daughter and mother walked off. She saw Rachel look back at her and give a big wave while they continued to watch each other till they were completely out of each other's sight.

After lingering for a moment, she turned around to get back to work. As she walked through the lobby, towards the elevator, she saw a man from the corner of her eye. She stopped abruptly and took a double take – her worse fear was alive. For a moment, she watched his interaction with Walters. He saw her and turned to her, flashing a smile that curdled her blood.

Her eyes wide with fear, she quickly rushed toward the elevator and pressed the up button frantically. The second the doors opened, she stood to the side and got in the moment she could. She pressed her floor and saw Walters and the man come towards her asking her to hold the elevator. She hesitantly pressed the close button and luckily the doors shut before they could reach it. Hastily, she walked to her boss' office and she was never happier to see him there.

House, who was still looking over the pictures when his guest entered, quickly put it under a few papers on his desk to make sure she didn't see it and placed his hands over his desk casually. He looked up at his former boss and saw a brief look of anxiety on her face before she hid it expertly. Quickly, he stood up ready to take her side in case she broke down.

"What's wrong?" He asked her concernedly, with his brows furrowed.

"Nothing," She answered too quickly. Cuddy leaned against House's desk nonchalantly. "Just wanted to know if Anderson told you who she wanted to fire yet." She obviously lied.

House could practically see the lies fall out of her mouth clumsily. He decided to play along and spare her for once. "No she hasn't, why are you worried she is jealous of our relationship and will try to break us apart?" He joked halfheartedly.

Cuddy could tell the pity that House relied on her and usually, she'd decline it, but this one exception she was more than happy to welcome it. "Yes, I'm afraid she'd take me away from the big bad wolf." She joked back with a small smile.

Before House could think of a comeback, they heard a soft tap on the door of House's door. They both turned towards the door a small look shocked and the fear reappeared – if only for a moment – on Cuddy's face as she took small steps backwards until she was against House's desk, a position she most definitely did not want to be in at that moment.

"Hello there," The man from the lobby walked into the room, without Walters though. "I'm Daniel," He turned to Cuddy and gave her a small, pseudo smile. "Daniel Fisher." He stuck his hand to House, who shook it as if everything were fine, before he stuck his hand out to Cuddy. "And you are?"

Cuddy realized the game he was playing and shook his hand cautiously as she gripped the table tightly in slight fear. "I'm Lisa Cuddy," She choked out while putting on the perfect artificial smile. "It's nice to meet you."

Daniel's hand lingered over Cuddy's for a moment before she tried to pull away. He had a quick mischievous glare in his eyes as he looked down at her. Cuddy tried harder to pull away as she felt his grip tighten just a bit. He finally let her go, but not without grazing her hand as he pulled away slowly. She now understood his intentions quickly and knew that he wasn't so innocent anymore, he was following her and he wasn't going to give up as long as she lived.

"I'm Gregory House," House quickly broke the silence that had formed when he saw the way Daniel touched Cuddy, as if savoring every feel he could. "What do you need, Cuddy and I were discussing a diagnosis." He tried to shoo the new man away. He could tell that the man made Cuddy feel nervous and defensive and if he got the man to leave he could use it as leverage to get information out of her. He was going to bribe her.

"Oh, by all means please go on. Don't mind me," Daniel maneuvered skillfully. "I'm just a passive observer, that's actually why I came here, hoping to catch you doing one of your world famous diagnoses." He was a liar, but a very good one and House had to give him some credit to that.

"Alright, so Cuddy, you said the patient had a tachycardia right after you gave her the steroids for the infection. Well it's probably because the steroids are too strong for her, so why don't you try to put her on antibiotics." Too bad House was a better liar.

"Well, she has an allergy to the antibiotic as well as penicillin." Cuddy prolonged the fake diagnosis after seeing House's tactic. "Is there any alternative to what we can do?"

House saw his boss coming down the hall and knew that he was home free in a matter of seconds so he thought for a quick answer to make the conversation seem to stretch. "Well, why did she have the tachycardia? She was on steroids a few months ago for—"

"Ah, Mr. Fisher there you are." Walters entered the room, perfect timing. "I see you've met the head of Diagnostics, Dr. House and one of his fellows, Dr. Cuddy."

"Yes and they showed me a very interesting glimpse at the diagnostics program. I do think I want to invest my money here." Fisher stated, same man, same lies.

"That's good to hear." Walters smiled. "Why don't we finish the tour," She motioned his towards the door and gave House and appreciative smile before leaving the room. How easily fooled some people could get.

The room was silent for a moment as Cuddy kept her eyes on the shut door in front of them. House turned and leaned to see her face before trying to follow her eyes. He put his head next to hers and looked at her and the door several times.

"I don't think you can open the door with your eyes, I mean I know they have a scary power but I don't think they can do that." House joked and Cuddy finally gave in and let out a soft chuckle, how he knew her so well she would never find out.

She turned to him and shot him a genuine, sincere smile. "Thank you," She told him admiringly, her eyes suddenly glistened at him as if they were filled with tears he knew weren't really there. "I really appreciate that."

"No problem," House shrugged off nonchalantly, "I'll find a way to use that against you." He gave a joking smile; though he knew what he was going to do he wasn't going to do it at that moment. "But you really should check on the patient." He told her, knowing that she was safe for the time being.

Cuddy gave a soft nod before turning toward the door. She began to head out but stopped in her tracks. She turned and walked up to House and gave him a hug. She remembered why it was also so hard for her to stay mad at him forever. Turning back on her heel swiftly, she accidentally knocked over a few papers on House's desk while slipping suddenly.

"I'm so sorry," She apologized as they both got down, picking up the mess even though it gave House's leg immense pain. "I have no idea how that just happened," She spoke embarrassedly. "I'm usually more coordinated, I have no idea how I slipped."

"Stop apologizing and clean up the mess," House commanded halfheartedly as he picked up a few papers and tried to ignore the pain.

Cuddy couldn't help but laugh a bit as she continued to clean. Once the mess was gone, she fixed the papers in her hand and looked down to see the enveloped that Lucas had given House. She recognized his handwriting almost immediately and she held it up to House with a brow cocked.

"You still have Lucas on the payroll?" She asked him surprised. Who did he need to look up nowadays? She looked back down at the stack of papers in her hand and her expression immediately changed. "What's this?" She asked as she dropped all the papers on his desk and picked up the top paper, reading it quickly.

"Cuddy, don't," House reached to grab the paper away but Cuddy turned around and walked away from him as she continued to read.

After reading the page she turned to House outraged and shocked. She then remembered the size of the envelope and quickly walked back to the desk to search through the papers. House placed his hand on top of the stack of papers to stop her.

"Cuddy, it's nothing you know I do this to all my employees." House told her sternly.

"Move your hand or I'll move it for you." Cuddy spoke in a threatening voice.

House refused to budge so she took his hand and pushed him off, yoga has really made her stronger. House caught himself before he could fall backwards and Cuddy began to quickly, and professionally, look through the papers. She found the pictures that Lucas sent and she looked at House angrily.

"You sent Lucas to spy on me?" She asked with disbelief. "You son of a bitch, I told you to mind your own damn business!" She exclaimed after he didn't answer. "It doesn't matter what happened a few months ago, but you couldn't let it go because it was something I knew that you didn't." She ranted on. "God, I can't believe I actually began to trust you again."

"Cuddy, this was for your own good." House told her.

"No," She refused. "Screw this! House, stay the hell out of my personal life and I don't want you _anywhere_ near Rachel again." She stormed off.

House furrowed his brows angrily after she slammed the door. He punched his desk angrily at everything that just happened. How could a good plan have gone so wrong?

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**A/N: Okay, yeah I know alot of you are mad but this is setting up the rest of the story LOL. So dont hate me just yet! I hope you liked this chapter and I hope you hate Fisher, if you dont you will soon enough LOL. I'd love to hear all your thoughts, good or bad, and if you want this updated super soon you better go on my page and vote on the poll. Right now this is tied for second place to get updated next and all your votes matter, so go ahead and vote. Hope you guys liked it and please do review**

-Jess


	13. Uncovered

**A/N: OMG I'm getting better at updating :D and very good job guys. I'm fairly impressed! You guys managed to steal second place with just TWO points. Very nice job! LOL but if you guys gotta keep voting. Right now, in the new poll for what to update after I update Emergency Page, you guys are in last place. Just sayin, you guys pulled through at the last minute last time can you do it again?**

**So I just added a little twist I never even thought about till yesterday LOL. So I hope you all like it. Thanks to **AmericanChick** for editing this cuz I didnt finished this till 3 and if I stayed up a second later I know my sister would have kicked my ass. So ya, I hope you all like it!! **

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House limped back into the conference room when his employees informed them that their job was done and the patient was getting better and was going to leave soon. Once he entered, he immediately noticed Cuddy's cold shoulder. She turned towards the door before casually turning away and showed more interest in the desk than she did him. But what was she mad at him? All he was doing was trying to protect and help her.

"Alright, so Anderson is our winner huh?" He blurted once he pulled himself from deep thought. "I guess that means she gets to choose the two people who have to fight to the death to gain a permanent position on my team."

The back door opened and everyone turned around to see who was interrupting their meeting. Walters and Mr. Fisher came in and stood quietly in the back. Walters nodded towards House, signaling for him to go on with what they were doing. House motioned Anderson to stand up and she followed orders. She looked at the employees for a quick second, in thought, and came with her decision.

"The two employees I nominate are Michelson," She said and number 11 stood up grimly. "And," Anderson was a bit hesitant before she said her second decision. "Cuddy," She finally choked out after a second.

Cuddy stood up formally, without a care in the world, and waited for the next order. But before anything could proceed the sound of hurried footsteps turned all their attention to the back where Fisher was rushing down with Walters following behind.

"Wait," Fisher called out. "No, no, no, I do not approve," He stated once he got to House. "Dr. Cuddy will not be fired or at risk of being fired." He smirked when he saw Cuddy's glare at him. This was exactly how it all starts out.

"What gives you the authority to call that out?" House asked, irritated by the other man's act of superiority.

"He's your new superior," Walters intervened. "He has donated a _very_ generation amount of money to _your_ department so that gives him say on every little thing you do. Whatever he says, from now on, goes." She asserted her position.

"The second nominee will be," Fisher looked at the group and smiled when he saw the perfect person. "Number 19," He ordered and turned his smile lopsided as he stared at Jacob.

Jacob stared at the man in disbelief. He couldn't believe who he was looking at. He turned to Cuddy and when their eyes met, she quickly turned away ashamed and remorseful. He stood up, as a nominee and Cuddy took her seat with Anderson.

"I'd love to see how you're going to eliminate one of these two." Fisher told House. "Personally, I think Michelson is a more promising candidate but we shall see who fails, shouldn't we." He gave a sort of mischievous smile before turning away and walking away slowly.

"Well, we have our two nominees," House said with disdain. He hated being told what to do, especially in his own department but Fisher was like Vogler, but crazier with power. "You can all go home and I'll tell you the death challenge tomorrow." He dismissed them and watched as they all stood to leave. "Anderson, wait just a minute."

Cuddy gave her a quick wave and small smile. Anderson mouthed a cryptic apology before walking down to House, timid of what her boss could possibly want. House lingered for a moment, waiting for all the employees to leave. Once the door closed he played with his cane for a moment before looking at the anxious contestant in front of him.

"So, why'd you choose Cuddy?" He finally asked. "I mean it looked like you were pretty good friends, good friends. I saw you at Rachel's party; you were drinking the whole night." He stated. "You were the one who told her about a new job opening around Boston knowing that was in town with Lauren and looking for one close by so someone could keep a watchful eye on Rachel while she was gone."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Anderson lied, looking away with an obvious tell. "I don't even know who her mother is."

"I didn't say Lauren was her mother." He smirked. "Neither of you were going to nominate the other, but suddenly you did." House narrowed his eyes, she wasn't going to crack. She had the same willpower as Cuddy. "What was your diagnosis?"

"Lambert-Eaton Syndrome," She stated, but she had fallen right into House's trap. He remembered every suggestion everyone made.

"Oh, I'm sorry but that was the wrong answer," House shook his head. "You suggested Chagas Disease," He informed her before he began to connect the dots. "Cuddy said Lambert-Eaton. She gave you her right answer because she knew she already has the job, being the most qualified the second she walked into the room. That means you owed her," He pointing his cane at her before going on. "She asked you to nominate her. To get the hell out of this place. Away from me and away from whomever that son of a bitch is."

"Fine, it's true," She caved, a little too quickly for House's opinion, but he let her go on. "She asked me to put her as a nominee and she'd just do something to screw up that would make you fire her. She hates you and Fisher."

"Your still lying about something," House stared at her intensely. "But right now, I don't know." He studied her poker face intently. "Very sneaky, I approve. I guess I won't be firing your ass for lying to me – don't do it again. Go home."

Anderson rushed out before House had a chance to stop her. They both knew she was hiding something, but only she knew what it was. House was going to find out though. He didn't know when or how, but he was going to find out.

--

"Lisa, what the fuck is that psychopath doing here?" Jacob asked once he and his cousin were alone in the locker room. "Why didn't you tell me – warn me." Two doctors past them and he quickly lowered his voice. "You know what's wrong with him."

"I don't know," Cuddy told him frustrated as she got out her bag and jacket. "I have no idea how he found me and I don't know how he got out in the first place." She began to search her bag for something. "This is all I know," She gave him a folded piece of paper.

Jacob quickly scanned it before he returned it to Lisa, completely appalled. "There is no way that this is legit." He denied, shaking his head furiously. "It has to be a fake – forged. Something. It just can't be true, especially if he did that to you." He motioned to her arm, where the bruise was slowly fading away.

"I told you I don't know," She finally snapped. "I had it checked, it is completely legitimate. I told you everything I know alright. The only other thing I know is that House isn't going to fire you because of what he says and that I don't need House to fire me to get the hell out of here."

"What are you talking about, Lisa?" Jacob asked his plotting cousin curiously.

"You'll see Jake, now let's go. I have to get home to Rachel." She finished fixing her jacket and stuffed the paper sloppily into her purse.

Jacob led Lisa out. As they both exited the locker room the piece of paper fell out of Cuddy's purse. It danced as it felt to the floor lightly and unfolded. It landed softly on the brown tiled floor and the words faded a bit from being folded and unfolded over several dozen times.

_Patient Name: Daniel R. Fisher  
Doctor: Dr. Steve Steinman  
Location: Michigan State Mental Hospital and Penitentiary  
Enter Date: September 25, 1987  
Release Date: February 18, 2015  
Certified: Sane  
Note: This man has made a complete reformation. He is sane and socially adapted. He is no longer considered a public threat and is here by certified to be out in any social society._

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**A/N: Dun, dun, dun. What you guys think? Pretty shocking right? Or maybe not LOL i'm sure you're asking, why didn't Cuddy just report him, well you'll find out laterz XD haha. Well I hope you all liked it and are still interested in the story.**

**Don't forget to keep voting please voice out your thoughts. :D Till next time**

**-Jess**


	14. I will Protect you

**Disclaimer: I do not own House**

**A/N: Wow guys, you went from second place to last place in three days! Come on guys! I know you guys are out there and can vote! Right now you are still in last place with 4 votes! I even made this chapter, which officially changes the rate of the story, just for you guys. I'd also be able to update this story alot faster if you guys voted. Come on I have fate in all of you! And here is a treat that might motivate you guys. Hope you enjoy - unbeta-ed so if u see mistakes just tell me**

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House sat in his office silently as the moon shined through his window. It was well past 8 but he had lost track of time a while ago. He was too busy thinking about his new 'boss' and the mess he is in. He didn't like Cuddy mad at him and, more importantly, he didn't need a new jackass boss to take over and act like he runs the god damn department. This was _his_ department and he'd roll over in his grave before he'd let some punk dictate what he does and how he does it.

He was quickly pulled out of his thoughts when he heard his friend enter his office. Without even a hint of acknowledgement, Vinson took his seat in front of his friend's desk and observed as House played with his infamous tennis ball. The silence enveloped them for a moment as House tried desperately to maul over his thoughts and tell them apart from his personal feelings for Cuddy.

"Why don't you just talk to her," Vinson read his mind, annoyed with his friend's immaturity about feelings and emotions. "Just talk to her, tell her you were concerned and tell her you are madly in love and wanna get in her pants and screw with her. You have no problem being honest with every other god forsaken person on earth. What makes her so different?"

With a hint of resentment, House looked at his friend with anger. What makes her so different? How could he ask such a ludicrous question like that? What makes her so different, he scoffed at the idiocy. The real question is why does she have to be so different? He wants so bad to be so blunt and honest with her, and he is most of the time, but he can't be about how he feels like he can other people. He can tell anyone, precisely to the punctuation what he thinks of them and how he feels, but when it came to Cuddy. He lost all thought, all knowledge of speech, of feeling, of anything other than the fact that she just glowed like the morning sun when he saw her.

Vinson's eyes grew wide with revelation as he sat amazed at his friend's silent response. "You really do love her don't you," He asked rhetorically, he always knew but now he knew just how much. "You don't wanna screw around with her; you wanna be more than that." He went on. "She whipped you without even needing to do anything. Omigod, the notorious Gregory House has been put in his place."

"Shut up, god dammit," House bellowed as he threw the tennis ball hard towards his annoying friend's head. "You know, you're not as cute and funny as you or your wife with bad taste think," He stated angrily. "I really do hate you sometimes, especially when you're being an annoying little twit like right now for instance." That's exactly what he meant, why couldn't he ever be like this with her when she was around?

"Why don't you just break up with your brat of a girlfriend, go over to her house and tell her that you are in love with her and that she whipped the shit out of you." Vinson stated a bit obviously. He then remembered the time and a band snapped in his head. "You already broke up and you're waiting for her to pack her things before you get back home, aren't you?"

"Oh Dr. Phil, however did you know? Could it be from the hundreds of times I've done this? Sometimes, I wonder why I don't think you're an idiot," He tried to change the subject. Though he was the one to break off the relationship – Sarah was getting a little too close – he wasn't feeling like playing patient and psychiatrist again.

"House, listen to me, as a caring friend. You need to go to her house, tell her how you feel before this all blows up in your face like you said it did four years ago." Vinson instructed carefully. "For years, I've been hearing how bad you messed it up with this chick--" He noticed House's angry face at his reference to Cuddy and quickly corrected himself, "I'm sorry, with this great woman that you just can't seem to stop talking about. Why don't you change that, here and now. Go to her home right now and change it."

House looked up at his idiot friend and kept silent as he contemplated his words. Suddenly, without even a word, House stood up and limped out of the room proudly. Vinson couldn't help but smile at his achievement; he really thought he could through to him this time. All he could do for now was hope and wait.

--

_"Lisa!" He screamed angrily as the police forcefully held him back and took him to their troop car. "Lisa, I love you and I will have you." He screamed with resentment. "I will be back! You haven't heard the last of me." He shouted as they pushed his head down into the car, but he popped back up. "Wait for me! Just wait."_

_Cuddy, only 16, quivered in fear as she watched her ex-boyfriend get hauled away. Tears fell from her face as she turned into her warm cousin's shoulder and he held her tightly telling her that he wasn't letting anyone take her away. The tears continued to fall though, dripping onto her cousin's now wet shoulder, and her best friend, Ginger Anderson, came to give her a comforting hand._

_"Don't worry Lisa," Jacob's voice said softly. "We're not going to let that psycho stalker anywhere near you." He held her closer as her sobs became more violent. "We won't let hurt you, not again," He whispered into her hair. "I promise he won't hurt you, not a single hair on your head." He pulled away and gave her a small smile, which she returned faintly. "We'll protect you," Ginger smiled in agreement._

_Lisa nodded and took a step back, wiping the tears from her eyes. Her gaze fell into the marks that were very visible on her and the memory shook her. She thought he was such a nice guy and maybe the perfect one, oh but how was she wrong. Why did she always attract the freaks? Only this time, he almost raped and kidnapped her._

_Lauren came up to her daughter, just arriving at the scene of the crime. Her face had tear stains and she immediately embraced her daughter lovingly not wanting to ever let go. Silently, her mother took her arms and pulled away. Lauren looked down at her daughter's rope burned arms and gave her another hug. _

_"That boy will never get out hurting you again," She whispered into her daughter's ear refusing to let go of her once more. "Never again," She rubbed Lisa's hair caringly._

_--_

There was a loud knock on the front door which made Cuddy jump out of her seat and right out of her horrible memories. She looked at the time, midnight, who could be at her door? Cautiously, she stood up from the living room couch, in the dark, where she spent most of her thinking, ever since Daniel came back, and walks slowly to the door. She couldn't be too safe with him walking around and free.

The person at the door knocked once more, louder than the first which made her jump once more. She looked through the peephole and furrowed her brows annoyed by the man on the other side. She contemplated whether she should just leave him to freeze outside, but her goodwill took control and made her unlock and open the door.

"House, what do you want this time?" She tried to say, but her sentence was cut in half when House surprisingly pushed her in and kissed her against the wall that kept the entrance hall and the large kitchen separated into different rooms.

House closed the door with his cane before he dropped it and moved her against the wall into the kitchen where he pushed her against the island table where he continued to attack her with hungry, lustful kisses. He felt her try to resist at first, and he didn't make her have to fight much, but she gave up the futile attempt the end what they both wanted and he gained access into her awaiting mouth with his tongue.

Gently, he moved his hands up and down her shoulder as they deepened their kiss with every breath and taste they got. House's arousal only grew larger as neither tried to end the kiss they both have been craving since they were first here in Boston just a few weeks ago. He pushed her roughly against the table once more, but instead of getting the pleasured moan that House wanted to hear, he heard a soft scream of pain and he instantly got off her.

Cuddy looked away ashamed because she had ruined the loving moment they have both wanted for so long. House wasn't going to have any of it; he turned her face by her chin and made her look him in the eyes. With only the moon shining through the window, House couldn't take his eyes off the glowing goddess in front of him.

Cuddy noticed his stare as well and she stared into his eyes and was instantly lost in the daze, she completely forgot about – what's his face – and her heart fluttered because of the way House's eyes seemed to search her eyes to find her soul and her heart. She wanted so badly to kiss him at that moment, but was too afraid that if she broke the gaze she'd never feel so relaxed and loved again.

"Can I see them," His voice broke the silence that had quickly masked them. With breaking contact with her eyes he continued to search them as if they could translate what he was thinking: he wasn't going to hurt her. He wanted to take care of her and would defend her from anyone who tried to even try to pull a hair from her beautiful head. He loved her.

Slowly, Cuddy nodded her head and held his hand. Without moving their eyes even an inch away from each other, they walked through the dark into the Cuddy's room. Still in the dark, the moon somehow shined brighter in her room then it did in the kitchen, but it made Cuddy seem more beautiful then she was outside.

Finally breaking the eye contact, Cuddy looked away as she slowly took her shirt off in front of her boss. House didn't watch in lust, no, he was watching in interest and concern. She dropped the shirt carefully on the bed where they stood at the foot of and stood with the lunar light shining on her silky, soft skin. In that, her bruises which normally would have looked well faded by now seemed to glow brighter than anything.

Ashamed, she looked away not wanting to see the disgust in House's eyes. She had let herself go so much over the years, though she still did yoga very frequently, she had bruises on her once flawless skin and it had grown dull and pale from the lack of sunlight since she worked so hard to cover every inch of skin she had since she had gotten the marks.

Surprising to Cuddy as it was, House began to rub her arms softly before caressing her face tenderly. He shook his head, reading her mind, and whispered to her, "I don't know why you're so embarrassed," He got her to look up at him with her big bluish-gray eyes. "You look so beautiful," He seemed to focus on her eyes with the intensity she had always dreamed of.

Cuddy's breath became a bit labored as she slowly closed her eyes and leaned forward. She was met halfway with House and their lips met in a tender moment. House brought her down gently onto the bed not wanting to harm her in anyway emotional or physical. Cuddy held onto his neck as they continued to kiss and she lay under him.

House left her lips and kissed her lovingly on the cheek before moving to her neck. He took off his shirt quickly but came back down slowly. He wanted nothing more than to make her feel pleasure and feel what she wants to feel. So he kissed her softly in the back of the ear and she let out a soft moan into his ear letting him know just how much she enjoyed it.

Slowly, they continued their make out, but Cuddy wanted it to go farther, but this felt all too good to just end. House continued to love her and her body caringly, and he sensed her want and need and complied subtly. He slowly pulled her skirt off along with his jeans and they lay together, House on top of Cuddy, in the dark just staring at each other for a moment.

"Are you sure you want this?" He asked her softly as he searched her eyes for any hesitation of fear. He didn't want to do anything to her unless he was 110% sure she wanted it and nothing else.

Cuddy nodded slowly once more. "Yes," She spoke softly, barely able to hear herself talk caressed House's face. "I want this." She spoke surely and softly knowing that she's never been so sure of anything in her life.

House agreed and slowly slipped her risqué thong off along with his boxers. He didn't waste time teasing her, but he slipped his fingers into her making sure that she was wet and slick enough for him. She let out pleasured and surprise gasp; she wanted so much more than just his fingers. Eyes closed, she tried to calm her breathing as House tested the waters.

Seeing the want and need in Cuddy's eyes as she looked up and begged him, he wanted nothing more than to fulfill all her request and any she made no matter how ludicrous they'd be. So, swiftly and in one motion, he quickly entered her and made a soft, but much pleasured groan, which he responded with by his own groan as her tight velvet walls clasped around his hard shaft.

Slowly, he entered and exited her in an awkward rhythm. He studied her eyes and facial expressions to make sure he wasn't hurting her. Then unhurriedly, he continued to thrust, growing a little harder with every reentering. He was powered by every grunt and groan of pleasure she made and he replied with his own sounds as they leisurely made passionate love to each other.

Cuddy wanted him to go faster, to be the wild animal she knew he was capable of being, but every slow movement he made kept making her want more and for longer. She knew he wanted to help her, heal her and he didn't want this to be another one night stand. He wanted it to be so much more, as did she.

Keeping a steady, patient pace they went on and on as the moon shined on them. They looked and watched each other as they both took a stroll down to the finishing line, together. Neither of them broke eye contact as their climax came. Cuddy bit her lip to make sure her grunts and moans stayed quiet not to wake her mother or daughter.

Both glistening in sweat still in the moon's sight, they began to pant and picked up their pace by just a second. They both wanted the sexual release that anyone craves, but they wanted to orgasm together as a whole. They both wanted to finish but they made sure that they made their timing just right.

House quickly covered Cuddy's mouth with his own and they shared a deep, fervent kiss and that was just enough to send them over the cliff as one. Cuddy's walls clamped tightly around his member as he ejected his seeds into her with one last, deathly thrust and as if holding on for dear life, Cuddy hugged House tightly.

Both trying to catch their breath, they laid down on their side as they held each other and stared at each other like there was no other person that matter in that moment other than each other. House suddenly pulled her against his chest and held her closely and she could hear his heart beat.

"I'm sorry," He suddenly spoke. "I just wanted to protect you." He didn't like opening up but he had to, if this was going to work he had to compromise. "I didn't want him to hurt you and I needed to know who he was. I'm sorry." He held her closely and she let a few tears slip. "I am going to protect you; I won't let him hurt you." He whispered softly. "I promise."

Cuddy sniffed and a tear fell from her eye once more. She snuggled comfortably into House's chest as she suddenly began to fall asleep. For the first time in the last two days, she was able to go to sleep again and for the first time in the last few months she has felt safe.

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**A/N: So did you guys like it? If you dont want it to be M rated I can make this T so just tell me in reviews. I hope you all like it and it isnt smut, its love :) as my friend Nikki said.**

**Now dont forget to vote guys! You want this updated faster, u gotta go on my page and vote! I'd love to hear your thoughts especially on this chapter since I wasn't really sure about it. If you guys liked it please tell me and I'll check the polls everyday but I wait exactly three days after my final update to call who wins. :) Good luck**

**-Jess**


	15. Masquarade

**Disclaimer: I do not own House**

**A/N: Okay, you guys may have not gotten the most votes but you guys are special, at least you gotta be if I stayed up till almost 3:30 am writing this. Sorry it took me FOREVER to write this, school just totally kicked my butt but OMG, only like 20 more days of school, I got better at the mile :D and fitness testing is over with!! :D I am sooo happy! I will try to update soon. This chapter is un-beta-ed because if you know me, u know that if I am tired, my beta-ing won't make much of a diff, and I just had a lotta sugar and the crash is coming real soon XD lol hope you all like it  
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House woke up a bit disorientated as he shielded his eyes from the sun penetrating through the window. He sat up slowly and looked around before he realized that he wasn't in his own room. He heard a soft moan and quickly looked down beside him. A ghost smile appeared on his lips as he looked down at the beauty that lay down next to him.

Her bare back faced him and her sleeping face was turned towards the door. A blanket covered from the small of her back down passed the bed as the blanket only covered his lower waist. He stretched his large muscles slowly before he leaned down and gave her a faint kiss on the cheek. Then slowly and cautiously, he got up and began to get dressed, not wanting to wake her.

When he stepped out of the room he smelt a wondrous aroma of breakfast being cooked just down the hall at the kitchen, he was not alone. He knew Cuddy probably didn't want their evening affair announced, especially to her mother and daughter, so he silently crept through the house trying not to make a sound. He thought it was going just well until he passed by the kitchen to get his cane, he was caught.

"Aren't you at least going to stay for breakfast," Lauren asked with her back to him as she and Rachel continued to cook the breakfast buffet. "We made an extra plate and everything just for you." She told him as she looked down at Rachel who quietly giggled at her grandmother and hers little trick to catch her father.

"No thanks, Lauren," House said a bit sheepishly, as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I need to get home and change before I get to work, and it's kind of late, or else I'd stay and eat with you guys." He explained, not wanting the mother of his lover to think he was just abandoning her like he did in college all those years ago.

With a false, tired sigh Lauren smiled at her granddaughter knowingly. "Alright then, I'll tell Lisa you had to leave." She told him assuring him that he was off the hook for now. "And I'll have her bring you your food at work, but you really shouldn't skip breakfast. It is the most important meal of the day." She lectured.

"Yes ma'am," House nodded respectfully and stood awkwardly for another moment to see if she had anything else to say. When he concluded she was done, he nodded, more to himself, and cleared his throat. "Well, I'll see you." He spoke up before grabbing his cane and stepping out.

"You certainly will," She and Rachel shared a cryptic smile as they almost finished cooking.

--

Cuddy began to stir in her sleep as she slowly made her way to consciousness. Absentmindedly, she put her hand where she assumed House would be, but shot up immediately when she felt the spot empty. She frowned when her eyes confirmed what she feared. She felt the area beside her and smiled when she felt his warmth still lingering and she could smell his scent still on the blankets. Oh, what lovely cologne he was using that night.

She quickly grabbed her robe and threw it on, its fuzzy, warm feel reminded her immediately of the night before and she sighed at the sweet feeling. Still in a daydream state, she left the room and happily, floated her way to the kitchen where Lauren and Rachel watched as she smiled at them lovingly, she was in a much better mood than she's been the last few days. As Cuddy continued to bathe in her memories, the grandmother-granddaughter duo smiled at each other and continued to admire Cuddy's state of true joy as she just sat there in a dreamlike position.

"Dear, are you going to join us for breakfast down on Earth?" Lauren finally asked ruining her moment. She saw a faint blush on her daughter's cheek as she smiled and ate her breakfast quietly. "Greg said good morning and next time you should have clothes ready for him so he doesn't have to go all the way home to get them."

Cuddy chuckled as she rolled her eyes at her mother knowing very well that wasn't a message House would leave for her, but she didn't say a word. House was truly a changed man, or at least he was finally showing her how much he changed, and nothing was going to ruining her good mood, at least not immediately after she wakes up. It was a good day and she intends on keeping it so.

--

It was 9:30 am and Cuddy was just 10 minutes later than House to get into work. When she walked in, eyes were on her and she gave an apologetic smile as she made her way down to her boss' desk and threw a container on food making it crash, luckily it didn't spill open. She looked at House dully and he gave a knowing nod, which gave her the go to turn around and go to her seat.

Employer-employee relationships were _extremely_ prohibited, which Cuddy knew very well, and with Fisher around she didn't want to risk anyone, let alone House. Their newly found intimate association would have to stay under the radar, at least in public. But House couldn't help but smile and watch as his lover made her way to her desk. For the first time since they were reacquainted House saw her wearing her extremely risqué shirts without a jacket or sweater over it.

"Well Dr. Cuddy, you're outfit might just make up for your tardiness," He couldn't help but tease and in response she simply turned around with a smirk and narrowed her eyes mockingly. "But I must say I certainly have not seen this one before, were you saving it for a moment just like this?"

"Thank you for the word of approval, Dr. House," Cuddy told him sarcastically as she sat down and intentionally leaned forward to tease him. "And don't flatter yourself, I did not dress up for you," She lied. "It's for someone else." She stuck her tongue out slightly between her teeth to mock him and got a jealous glare in return. She had to hold in her chuckle, she certainly missed their banter and flirting.

There was a short silence as House and Cuddy locked gazes and stared each other down, as they did in the old days. Without breaking it, he called out to Jacob, "What's today?" He caught the doctor by surprise and he hesitated. "Oh, you just lost 5 points." House looked at him with a smile. "Starting today, you and Michelson will be competing for points, starting at 0. You are now at -5 and he's still at 0. Anything can you make you gain or lose points and after we cure our next patient, the doctor with the most points will be the winner."

"When do we get our next patient?" Michelson asked curiously as he and Jacob wore the same look of disdain and worry. What boss in their right mind would make their employees compete as if this were a basketball game? Then again, was House ever in his right mind?

"Oh, you just lost 5 points for asking a pointless question." He smiled, he was certainly having fun. "Since Christmas is tomorrow, I decided not to cure anyone until after, a little Christmas present to myself, that doesn't mean you guys can't and shouldn't get your favorite boss a present, even if its last minute." He saw several eye rolls, but went on. "But as my present to you guys, I'm going to let you finish my clinic duty and I'll see you all on Monday."

He heard several groans before all the employees got up to go do their boss' work. A satisfied smile was plastered on his face as he saw the irritation and exhaustion on their faces, Merry Christmas to him indeed. "Dr. Cuddy, do you mind staying behind for a second?" He called out at the last minute.

Cuddy froze in her spot and nodded. She turned back to her friend and cousin and gave him the okay to go on without her, she'd be fine. They hesitated before leaving Cuddy all alone with their menace of a boss. Jacob shot House a warning glare before he walked out with Anderson following behind him, though she lingered a bit and looked at her friend concerned.

"What do you need, boss?" Cuddy asked as she stayed within arm's length as she waited for the door to close firmly behind the last person who left the room. Before House could go on, Cuddy heard the click and was almost instantly standing in between his legs combing his hair back. "You know, I really wish you'd brush your hair better before you come to work, you look like you just got screwed last night." She told him as she gave him a chaste kiss on the lips.

"But I did," House smirked as he closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of Cuddy's lean fingers making their way throw his hair. He suddenly felt a thump on the side of his head and immediately opened his eyes to be greeted by Cuddy's cold glare.

"Shut up," She told him, though she couldn't help but laugh a bit as she said it. She let out a soft yelp as House pulled her down onto his lap and cradled her like she was a baby. Quickly, she threw her leg around his left and straddled him expertly and immediately felt her affect. "You like this don't you." She smirked.

"Not saying I don't," He told her as he nibbled on her neck hungrily. His lips began their trek upward when he felt the vibration of her throat as she let out a soft groan and leaned into his touch. Suddenly, he stopped at her jaw and pulled away. "Now we really do need to talk." Cuddy was taken aback by his seriousness, she doesn't know the last time she's heard him be serious.

"About what," She asked as she got off and stood not two feet away from him. Her eyes looked at him at him with a hint of sadness and confusion. She thought he had kept her back for a small intimate moment, not for business.

"You need to tell me who Fisher is," He told her seriously and without more ado, Cuddy averted her gaze from his. He stood up and made her look at him. "I need to know who he is and what he did to you so I can keep him the hell away from you." He said protectively.

Cuddy looked at her knight in shining armor admirably. Instantly, she pulled him into a deep kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck lovingly. House placed his hands on the side of her waist and kissed her back passionately for half a minute before they got up for air. They rested their heads against each others.

"I know you can protect me no matter what," She told him as she caressed his face tenderly before giving him one more chaste kiss. Then they heard the door suddenly open and jumped a mile away. "Alright Dr. House, I'll try not to show you _too much_ attitude," She quickly covered up their true intentions. "Though you really do deserve it," She added quickly.

"I'll be keeping a close eye on you Dr. Cuddy," House narrowed his eye and tried not to smile as he and Cuddy put on a performance of a lifetime for his boss lady, though he wasn't sure if she was falling for it and could see right through his act, she did know him pretty well. "You're dismissed."

They turned to see Walters standing at the door, their jump was certainly noticed and she gave Cuddy a knowing look and a cryptic message that probably only Deans could understand. Cuddy cleared her throat and cleared out of the room with her head bobbed not to look at Walters, who instantly turned to House once Cuddy was out of the room. Now they really had something to talk about.

--

All that day, House stalked Cuddy around the hospital. He wanted to make sure that not for a single second was she left alone, especially when he knew Fisher was around or near her. Whenever he got near, even within 100 feet of her, House would jump in and pull her away to do something oh so important. He may not know exactly what Fisher did to her, but he wasn't taking chances and leaving them alone – even if there were doctors and security guards on every floor of the building – hospital policy.

As the day came to an end, House called all his lackey's back to the lair and House wrote the final scores for each opponent on the board. Jacob and Michelson both took a peak before sitting flatly in their chairs and acting bored and as if they couldn't care less that their jobs were on a line and based on silly and random points.

"I like how you guys think that even though my back is turned I can't see what you're doing or how 'cool' you're acting," He told them, still facing the board. "But for being so idiotic you both lose 10 points." He erased their scores. "So what's that now? Hmm, Jacob and Michelson are tied for first place with -55 points."

Cuddy saw one of them get ready to ask a question, but decided to save them both the trouble. "How exactly did they lose more points? You weren't with them the whole day," She said indubitably, he was with her after all.

"Ah, but Dr. Cuddy, as you should very well know, I have many sources and I have ways of watching my players without them knowing." He explained vaguely, raising a ton more questions and waiting to see if either candidate had enough gut to risk another point. "How else would I have been able to leave all my work to you," He smirked and waited another second before snapping his fingers. "Oh, another 20 points since neither of you were brave enough to ask anything, I love this game don't you." He smirked.

There were several sighs, eye rolls and glares amongst the four employees and House continued to smirk. They all stared into nothingness as they waited for House to dismiss them to go home for Christmas Eve and he, knowing this fact very well, just stared at the clock as the big hand slowly made its way to another minute, for a torturing 10 minutes before he let them all go. They practically raced out; no one wanted to wait another second in that room.

House took his sweet time getting down to the locker room to get his things. He was fairly shocked to see someone standing beside his locker with a smile as they held his things for him. A smile appeared on his face as he took his items and threw on his jacket. He, once more, decided to take his time and make the other person wait for him, but instead of giving him the annoyed look he searched for, she giggled softly since she knew what he was doing.

"It's no fun when you enjoy it," He pouted as he took his backpack and threw it over his shoulder. Her smile soothed him though and he leaned down to place a soft kiss on her pink lips. "What do you want?" He asked as he pulled away but kept their lips centimeters apart.

"What could I possibly want," Cuddy asked jokingly as she smirked and leaned towards him but refused to go all the way up into his kiss, she wanted him to go down to her. When House stayed unfazed with a challenging smile on his face, she leaned away and gave her own hissy pout. "My mom and I are hosting a Christmas party at the house, and she and Rachel begged me to invite you." She lied.

"Oh so you don't want me there," House decided to push and made his way in front of her, effectively trapping her between his large, muscular figure and the dull green lockers. He made sure the locks didn't hurt her though.

Cuddy smiled a toothy smile as she looked at House lovingly and at the same time rolled her eyes playfully annoyed. "Well, I guess I want you there," She admitted not too subtly and House accepted it. He leaned down to give her a kiss, but she put her fingers on his lips stopping him. "You can't kiss me at the party." She told him before walking off with a smug grin. Boy, did she know how to end a conversation.

--

There was yet another knock at the door and Lauren peaked through the peephole. She smiled at the guessed and backed away from the door, walking away from it promptly. The guest knocked once more and Lauren had made it to the island table in the kitchen by then.

"Lisa," Lauren called to her daughter who was just a yard or two away from the door. "I think I heard someone at the door, can you get it?" She gave a wink to her granddaughter who giggled at their plot.

"Alright," She yelled as she made her way through the crowd with suspicion hanging over her head. All night her mother has been volunteering to open the door and all of a sudden she tells Lisa to. There had to be something up. She opened the door and smiled when she saw who it was. "Why Dr. House, I'm surprised you made it." She lied as she welcomed him in. "A little late, but you made it." She took his coat and threw it onto the couch.

"Wait," Lauren yelled before the two could get away from the door. They both looked at her in confusion as she approached them smiling. "Looks like someone got caught under the mistletoe." She couldn't help but smirk at her and Rachel's well worked plan.

"What mistletoe?" Cuddy asked shocked as she looked above them and she gave her mother a nasty glare. "You sneaky, conniving old woman." She cursed aloud.

"Oh Lisa, shut your trap and kiss the boy." Lauren commanded as she pushed the two closer together and more under the mistletoe and the shared a small, nervous glance.

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**A/N: Alright, so I am not changing the poll for a while, so those who havent voted can. I am getting a lil tired of erasing the poll over and over so I'll change it maybe every month, if I get super lazy I'll tell you guys. So you have a chance to get a little up.**

**Sorry for not beta-ing and if my replies seem distant it's because I'm super busy and tired in the morning. Your reviews are all really great to read, even if they are bad reviews because it says you have an opinion for this, and they all make my day, they are the first things I read in the morning. :D Dont forget to vote and tell me if you guys DONT want Huddy to kiss, at least not in front of the pplz.  
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**-Jess**


	16. Push

**Disclaimer: I do not own House**

**A/N: OMG i am SOOO sorry it took me sooo long to update! I was going through eighth grade grad so I was soo busy and scared and I am sooo sorry! Weird enough, the last month of school was my busiest... thats new! Plus I moved...then moved again XD lol but now that its summer I will be updating more frequently, buuuut, my sister is trying to make me have a life so that might get in the way XD lol and I actually have a wake up time so goodness knows I cant stay up at all hours of the night updating anymore.**

**Anyways, sorry again and I hope this chapter makes up for it. Oh and guys! I gave you like what? Months to vote and you guys come in last place again? Dont you this updated more often? You guys gotta vote vote vote! I am super serious about following the order. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. It isnt all that happy but no worries :D It'll all be good in the end.  
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House and Cuddy stared at each other nervously. No one but Lauren and Rachel knew about them and Cuddy wasn't sure if it was safe to reveal it to the public. No matter, Wilson and Sam backed away from the couple to let them kiss. House swallowed nervously and before they could make a decision there was another knock at the door.

"Oh thank god," Cuddy whispered as she turned away and opened the door.

"Hello Dr. Cuddy, am I too late for the party?" Smiled a mischievous Daniel Fisher. He held a boxed present in one hand and champagne in the other, she quickly redrew her word of thanks.

Rachel tugged on House's pants as he glared at the unexpected visitor evilly. House leaned down and Rachel grabbed his head to whisper, "That's the man that hurt mommy, daddy."

"I know Rachel," House patted her back, "Don't worry I won't let him hurt your mommy. She's safe with me."

Rachel smiled brightly at her father. "I already know that daddy; you're always taking care of us."

Cuddy stepped away from the door, and the mistletoe to let the crasher in. House held Jacob back from pummeling the man and everyone was silent as they waited for Daniel to make his way in. He placed his gift on the table and gave the bottle of champagne to Lauren.

"Let's open this shall we, thank you Mister..." She decided to act along. Lisa had explained to her everything the other night and she didn't want to risk her daughter or granddaughter's life for anything.

"Fisher. Daniel Fisher." They shook hands.

The party suddenly erupted to its capacity once more and everyone continued on their way. Vinson and Anderson kept Jacob away from the insane man while Cuddy took off towards the bathroom, wanting to get away from everything, it was just too much. House followed her closely.

"Come on Cuddy, you can do this." Cuddy spoke to herself in the mirror. She then turned on the faucet and splashed her face with cold water. When she looked back up she jumped when she saw she wasn't alone.

"You really should lock the door," House said as he stepped right behind her and engulfed her into his arms. Cuddy leaned into him and let a few stray tears fall. His thumb caressed her arm gently. "You can stay here, don't worry."

She pulled away and through tearful eyes stared up at the man who had somehow turned her hate for him into love in a mere twenty-four hours. She smiled at him lovingly before caressing his face.

"Shit, I have to go to the bathroom," Wilson told Sam after his third glass of champagne. He handed his glass to his wife and ran off to find the bathroom. Lauren pointed to the door as she walked passed and he nodded his thanks and ran in.

Suddenly, he stops dead in his tracks with an audible gasp. Cuddy quickly pushed off House and turned several shades of pink. Wilson continued to gape with his jaw on the ground as the loving couple tried to catch their breaths.

"We really should start locking that door," House joked, but saw Cuddy look further away. He pulled her back into his arms, not caring what Wilson thought and held her for a moment. Lisa couldn't help but smile. "Go do your business in the other bathroom, this one is occupied till the end of the party."

Without a word, they shooed Wilson away.

The party only lasted till midnight, and everyone began to file out. House had left Cuddy in the bathroom so she could hide and no one else would suspect a thing. He filled Wilson in on all he knew and Wilson swore on his balls that he wouldn't tell a soul, hopefully he keeps this promise.

"See you later, Cuddy," Wilson called aloud into the house with a smirk before he left. "Bye House," He kept the same smirk. "Take care."

House rolled his eyes. "See you annoy pest of my life." He quickly shut the door. After the area was clear he knocked on the door letting Cuddy know it was safe. "Snuggle-puss, you're safe now." House called in mockingly. "Watson has gone home, Ms. Adler. It's just you and me."

Cuddy walked out with a smile on her face. She quickly wrapped her arms around her Sherlock and guided him backwards towards her couch like a couple of teenagers. There she let them fall and snuggled into his chest.

"Well Mr. Holmes, what shall we do now?" Cuddy asked seductively, keeping her face just inches from his.

"Now that's elementary my dear." He smirked before pulling his lover into his arms, and unpredictably tickling her and making her laugh loudly.

After a moment, House trapped Cuddy beneath him with a suggesting smile before they heard footsteps. They quickly came apart, and Cuddy's heart stopped and she could hear the fear coursing through her body. Fisher stood there, scowl across his face, which soon turned into an almost mischievous smirk on his face as he looked at the pair, whom were still in each other's arms.

"This was one splendid party," He acted as though he saw nothing. "I can't wait to see the next one, but Dr. Cuddy, I hadn't seen you almost through the whole thing." Cuddy merely nodded and Fisher smiled. "Well I must get going. I shall see you all on Monday." He left.

Cuddy released the breath she didn't know she was holding. A tear fell from her eyes and onto House's clothes as she hid her face from the world.

"I'm so sorry," She whispered silently. "I wish he didn't… I thought he was…" She trailed off.

"Its fine," House whispered into her hair. "I thought he was gone, too; he fooled us both." He kissed her temple lovingly. "Everything will be fine."

"He tried to rape me," Cuddy silently confessed into his strong, hard chest. House pulled away and looked at her, silently asking if she was ready to talk about this. "Twice," She went on and scooted just a bit away from him. "We went out for a little over two years. He had a huge crush on me in 8th grade and asked me out; I wanted to be nice and said yes. Then after a few years, when we were sophomores, I noticed how obsessive he was. He even tried to scare off my cousin Jacob because we hung out one weekend without him, so I broke it off." She sighed before going on. "Then, he went crazy. He practically stalked me for a couple months and I got scared so I got a restraining order against him. Next thing I know, a few weeks later, I was tied up in this old, abandoned house and he asked me if I loved him. I told him no, I screamed, I lied to him, I did everything." Another tear slipped passed her strong eyes. "After a few days he moved me to a bed and tried to rape me, he almost got away with it, but Jacob found me, with the cops, and Daniel was sent away."

"How did he—" House began.

"Just a few months after you left, he came back. He said he was a donor, but I knew who he really was and he knew me too. But he was really generous, he heard about what Volger did and he did the same thing. I couldn't refuse the large sum of money; the board would have my head after all the donors we lost once you were gone." She confessed. "A few months ago, right before I quit, he came into my office and said he wants what he came for. He attacked me, again." She let out a sob and a sniff. "That's how I got those marks, how I broke my arm. The only reason I got away was because I nearly stabbed him with my heel." She finished.

House smiled at her and pulled her into him. "I always knew your stilettos were killer." He heard her chuckle and held her closer. "I shouldn't have left; I won't let him hurt you again. I'm not leaving you. I'll protect you." He promised for what seemed like the 100th time. Then it suddenly dawned on her that House was in deep danger, not only because Fisher knew of her feelings but also because he knows the truth, he knows everything.

"No!" She screamed and stood up, pushing him away. "I don't want you to." She knew Daniel was already after Jacob after what happened the first time. She might not be able to get rid of Jacob, protect him, but she'll be damned if she couldn't do anything about House. "If you didn't leave," She tried to be mad at him, tried to frame him to make him leave. "He wouldn't have been able to even get me near the second time." She turned away to hide her tears. "I want you to go," She said more quietly.

"No," He objected. "I'm not leaving you alone."

"Don't you get it," She turned her tears to anger. "This is entirely your fault! You had to leave. You let him get to me and I don't want you around." She went to the front door and opened it. "Leave."

"Last night you were happy that I was here to protect you, what the hell is different today?" House yelled.

"The difference is that I'm thinking clearly, I'm not high off a damn orgasm. I can think rationally and I can remember that it was entirely your fault that he was even able to get me." She repeated more for herself, to fuel her false anger.

"Well I won't let it happen again." He told her.

"No, it won't, because you are leaving. You are leaving or I'm calling the cops." She threatened. "Please House, don't make this any worse. Just leave. There is nothing you can do and nothing I want you to do. I want you out of here, out of my life, and if you dare do anything to help me or otherwise I will get legal."

House grabbed his cane and began to limp out, sending Cuddy any angry glare. He wasn't finished with the matter, not as long as he was alive. Cuddy looked away, pretending to stare angrily at the floor, and she was angry. Angry at herself, for getting House involved and letting them get caught, and angry with that asshole Daniel for coming back into her life, but mostly angry at House, for making her care so much that she'd do anything to make sure he was alright, even if it meant pushing him away forever.

Rachel quietly sobbed and Lauren held her close. "Its okay sweetie, mommy and daddy are just trying to protect each other." Lauren read her daughter's mind.

"Is daddy gonna gone for a long time like before?" Rachel cried into her grandmother's shoulder.

"No, he won't be gone for long; we can always visit him at the hospital anyways." She tried to comfort her hurt granddaughter. After all their hard work, this happens. Curse that wretched man, for one day her daughter was happy, only to have it taken away. If she could, she would most dearly…

Cuddy threw her wine glass angrily at the wall. Why did he have to come back into her life? For one full day, she was so happy. So content, but that man, that evil, vile, angry man had to come down and ruin it with a smile. A smile she knew all too well. A smile that she knew meant only one thing, danger. Why did he make her life so hard? Why did he make it so that she had to push all her loved ones away, isolating herself? Why?

House drove his motorcycle around for an hour. He needed the air. How could such a nice night turn so vile with one word? One moment they are on cloud nine, content with the other's company and - dare he say it - in love, the next she was threatening him with lawsuits. Shooing him, making him leave, isolating herself and for what? To appease the man she hates more than him? He definitely wasn't through with her. He just had to beat Mr. Fisher at his own game, one way or another.

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**A/N: Okay, so it isnt as long as the last chapter but I'm spicing up the poll a little. Well, it was an accident but it worked some how. First place gets the longest update, in other words, how many words they get will be the largest amount. Second place gets knocked off no more than 1000 words and last places 1000 less than second. It was sort of last minute, but it actually extended this chapter lol. **

**So yeah dont forget to vote, if you cant vote, leave an anon review saying you want this story updated first, I'll add it. **

**And please do review and tell me what you think. I crave criticism, good and bad, to make my work better. And it makes updating so much easier, it took me three days to update this lol. When people review i feel guilty for making them wait thus a quicker update lol. So please do tell me what you think, even if its just to trash talk, I dont really care. I read how mean reviews can get but I can choose to ignore it, for some reason I just dont care that much.**

**Sorry again for the long wait.  
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**-Jess**


	17. Trust me

**Disclaimer: I do not own House**

**A/N: Okay wow... I'm an idiot! Sooo I mistook one of the anonymous votes to be for you guys so I wrote this chapter a few days earlier. Lucky you guys right? LOL Weeeell, I realized that the last chapter was kinda iffy, so I decided to confront those confusions in this chapter as to why one second they are madly in love and the next Cuddy wants nothing to do with House, but like I said this is a huddy story and House doesnt give up, plus I'm losing my eye for ****angst ever since the Huddy revolution on the show, sooo, guess what! You'll have to read to find out and who knows, there might be a twist you guys wont really enjoy, but its better than my original idea where Daniel almost kills House XD haha just randomly! :D **

**BTW you guys won second place in this poll. Really proud :) That hasn't happened in a while. LOL**

**Thanks to my AWESOME Beta **Rei** for beta-ing this while I tried to catch up on my reading :D I owe her one!**

**Oh and one more thing, you should read the author's note in the bottom there might be some info you guys would like to know  
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**Hope you enjoy!  
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Though Christmas quickly came and passed, House said they wouldn't need to go in till Monday and Monday was a few days away. House didn't leave Cuddy alone, not one bit, and she had to restrain herself from going to him. She refused to go to the door. She stayed in her room to avoid confrontation from her mother or House and only left for Rachel, to spend some of her Christmas Day with her family, or for a family meal – where she kept the conversation limited. House called constantly, to the point where she took out the battery of her phone and unplugged the phone in her room. She needed to stay as far away from him as possible for his sake, and she knew this would be near impossible starting Monday, but she hoped by that time he'd give up.

During Lunch on Saturday, there was a knock at the door and Cuddy recognized the wood-on-wood contact. Before she could get up and leave, the door jingled a bit and he walked in with a scowl across his face as he approached her. Cuddy sighed, furrowed her brows, pursed her lip and looked at him angrily.

"What the hell do you think you're doing," She screeched in her administrative voice out of habit. "You do understand it is _illegal_ to break into someone's home and enter without consent of the proprietors."

"I didn't break in and I do have consent." He held up the key that Lauren had given him the night before. He gave her a nod of thanks and she quickly turned away from what she knew was a cold glare from her daughter.

"Rachel, let's go to your room, mommy and daddy need to talk privately and you know what foul mouths they have." She picked up the young girl who sat there obliviously for once, and took her out of the room.

"Get out." Cuddy said simply. "I told you I want nothing to do with you and I wanted you to stay the hell out of my life. Now get out."

"I know that's not what you want." House stated overconfidently as he closed the small gap between them. "_I _don't need the protection Cuddy, _you_ do and the sooner you get that through your pretty little head the sooner this little situation can get dealt with."

"_No._" She objected. "The sooner you get it through _your_ pretty little head that you have nothing to do with this, the sooner _I_ can deal with _my_ situation." She walked away for a second and came back with a paper and handed it to him.

"What's this?" He asked, not even glancing at the paper now in his possession.

"It's my resignation paper," She told him shaking a hair from her face. "I quit."

"No." He declined ripping the paper in half.

Cuddy's jaw dropped. "You can't—"

"I just did." He interrupted rudely. "You're not quitting. I will see you at work on Monday, or I'll find you and we're going to fix this problem of yours personally."

"House, I do _not_ want or need your help." She insisted getting very annoyed.

"Too late," He replied simply. "I already have Lucas following the creep around and whether you want to or not, I'm going to call the cops. It'll be easier if you cooperate with me, but if I have to do it the hard way and force you to cooperate, I'll do it."

"You don't get it do you," She finally screamed. "No one can help me. I tried calling the cops, I tried Lucas. Nothing will work." Her breath turned shallow. "Daniel is untouchable. He is the best con man in the world. When I called the cops, they checked him out and said he seemed sound. I tried Lucas and all he could find were things I already knew and some idiot doctor ruled out. I even took him to court, the judge ruled in his favor because he convinced them that he was perfectly sane and I was just paranoid and sensitive." She refused to show her weak side. "I don't even know how he found some of those things out about me." She whispered more to herself. "There's nothing anyone can do."

"Then you just have to try again," House's voice broke her from her weakening state. "You never give up Cuddy, not until that scumbag is back where he belongs, in jail." He then hardened his stare. "I used to respect you. You used to do anything in your power to get what you want and deserve. You even put your reputation and livelihood on the line. You never gave up. But now," He chuckled sadistically with a shake of his head. "You've become a coward. All you're doing is running, I thought you were better than that." He furrowed his brows and scrunched his nose. "I guess I was wrong."

"Shut up," Cuddy whispered as she clenched her fist, slowly getting angry with his words. "I am not a coward," She was many things, but she was definitely not a coward.

"Prove it." House challenged. "Stop running and face him like the woman you used to be, the woman who used to be able to move mountains. Or are you just too scared now?"

She bit her lip to stop herself from crying, to stop herself from showing any sign of weakness. "But I can't," She whispered. "I just can't anymore."

House frowned in disgust once more. "Then I guess you're not the woman I used to know. Sorry to have bothered you." He turned to leave, disappointed at the strong force he once knew.

"House," She called out and cursed herself for her weakness. "You have to understand, that I really tried. I did everything. There's nothing more that I could possibly try."

"You didn't do everything," House told her and she looked at him in confusion. "You didn't come and see me."

Cuddy's eyes turned glassy and she looked away, knowing that he caught a glimpse of the truth. "I couldn't, I just, no, I couldn't." She insisted.

"Yes you could have. You always could have, Lisa." House stared at her intently. He reached out for her slowly and she accepted the small gesture. He began to caress her arm gently with his thumb, only to have her quickly pull away after coming to her senses.

"House," She shook her head as she backed away into the little shadows in the hall. "I'm sorry, I just," She turned away quickly, refusing to look into his confused eyes. "I just can't." She quickly left for her room and locked the door. How could she have been so weak?

House stood there dazed for a moment, confused on what happened. Where did it go wrong? He thought they were really making progress. He thought he was finally getting his message through to her and she suddenly backs away?

After he recollected his thoughts, he followed Cuddy and before she could shut her door close, he stepped through and intruded. Cuddy, caught off guard, was then forced into a kiss from House. She refused to kiss back, she even tried to pull away, but House refused to let her go. He pushed her further into the room and shut the door behind him, so they wouldn't be interrupted. He had her against the bed and tightened his grip so she wouldn't fall over.

A tear slipped pass her eye as she tried to restrain herself, it took all her will power and it was killing her not to kiss the man she loved. But who knows, Daniel could be watching them. She needed to stay strong, for the both of them. She continued to struggle against him, but he refused to loosen up, not even a little.

After a moment of useless struggling and wearing down of energy, Cuddy returned the kiss full blast. House finally loosened and Cuddy took the opportunity to push him off. She turned away ashamed and stared down at her bed, refusing to make eye contact.

"You kissed back." House broke the silence.

"You forced me to." She lied, she wanted so badly to kiss back and after her energy was lowered she couldn't help herself.

"I didn't force you to do anything you didn't want." He caught her. "Let's just try to put the other night behind us."

Cuddy sniffed a bit and turned away. "But House, I can't." She shook her head. "If I do, if I let you and I get closer, I'd practically be pushing you in front of a train. I'm dangerous House." She finally confessed. If there was only one way to reason with House, it was with logic and honesty.

She kept her gaze away and waited for him to leave. It was safe to assume, she was more than a little surprised when he forced her to look at him before crashing his lips back on hers for a quick, tender kiss. "I live for danger, you know that."

Cuddy shook her head. "You're an idiot."

They shared a smile and he kissed her again. "So are you."

"We really can't," She sat on her bed and backed away from him.

"Not in public." He verified.

"Have you been brain dead for the past few days? We tried the private way and he caught us, is there some other way I don't know about?"

"It's called not giving into that son of a bitch," House told her. "He found us on purpose, he knows how you work Cuddy, he knows you would try and push me away. Don't give him the satisfaction."

"I know, but—"

"We keep it going, show him he didn't win and wait till he slips up. If he went crazy one time, it'll happen again. Trust me. It'll work." He looked at her sternly.

"I don't know," She looked away doubtfully.

"Do you trust me?" He tried.

"Of course I do, but—"

"Then trust that this plan will work. He can't keep playing forever." He paused and held out his hand. "Are you in or out?"

Cuddy bit her lip and stared at the hand in front of her. She was so tempted to take it, but there were so many holes in his plan, but what choice did she have? She would be putting everything and everyone she cared about at risk, for the smallest chance.

"Lisa, trust me." He assured her again when he saw the hesitation.

Cuddy smiled, this was the last thing she wanted to do, but he was right. She had no other options. She took his hand he held hers tightly for comfort. No turning back now.

The last safe days they had together, they spent putting the finishing details into their plan. They decided to make their relationship public and make it as inclusive as possible. When Monday came, Cuddy was nervous. House had slept over the other night to go over the plan once more, though that's not all they did.

House woke up earlier than Cuddy and looked at the time. 7:30, they had to be in work in 30 minutes. He stretched and shook the woman who slept on his chest.

"Get up, sleeping beauty," He told her as he continued to shake her.

"Mmm," She groaned. "I don't wanna," She frowned. "I change my mind; I'll hide here all my life. I like this room."

"Ha-ha," He laughed dully and pushed her up to look at her. "No turning back, remember? We're going with this and that's final young lady."

Cuddy smiled. "I thought I was supposed to be the parent."

"Yeah well, sometimes the kids gotta take charge now get that sexy ass of yours ready so we can get in." House commanded and slapped her bum as she walked off.

"Ever heard of sexual harassment?" She asked as she disappeared into her walk in closet.

"Ever heard of boyfriend benefits?" He countered as he pulled up his pants.

She sent him a glare and continued to dress.

After a morning of banter and sexual harassment on both parts, they finally left for work. They look House's car, thinking Cuddy's was probably being tracked, and entered the hospital together, hand-in-hand, making it as obvious as possible that they were indeed a couple. Cuddy spotted Daniel staring at them and swallowed hard, here goes nothing.

"Good morning, Dr. House, Dr. Cuddy," They were approached by Walters who gave Cuddy a look only she would understand. Cuddy nodded and they stared at each other as if talking telepathically. House raised his brow at Cuddy and she merely smiled at him; Walters copied. "Well, you two have a good day," She sent another look towards Cuddy before they both nodded and left.

"What was that about?" House asked his girlfriend curiously.

"Oh nothing, just something only we Deans understand." She acted high and mighty as they continued their trek to the auditorium.

When they walked in, they were met with three looks of shock. House gave Cuddy a soft kiss on the cheek before going forward and Cuddy, with a blush, took her seat.

"Let's get started shall we," House smiled at the rest of his crew. "Jacob and Michelson, you two—"

"Are you two dating?" Anderson suddenly interrupted as she got over the initial shock of seeing her best friend with her jackass of a boss.

"Yes now—"

"Is that why her job is secure?" Michelson asked.

"No, if you forgot, damn Fisher made that, anyways—"

"How long have you two been dating?" Jacob stopped him.

"For a while," Cuddy finally broke though, annoyed from the constant questions. "House and I are sleeping together and have been for a while. We will continue to no matter what anyone else says, he and I will be keeping a professional distance at work, and yes we do like each other, that why we decided to go out, not because we both like sex and are good at it. Can we move on?" The annoyance was evident in her voice.

House hid his smile. "Very nicely put, Dr. Cuddy," He paused. "And yes, the sex is a very good bonus." He cleared his throat. "Now as I was saying, Jacob and Michelson go to the ER and find a _good_ case and the one with the best gets 100 points, loser gets negative 50 points. Easy enough-go!" He told them.

"What about us?" Anderson asked, motioning to herself and Cuddy.

"I don't know what you'll be doing but Dr. Cuddy will be busy," House smirked.

"House," Cuddy glared.

"Calm down, Cuddles," He rolled his eyes. "I was only kidding. You two are going to do my Clinic hours, actually wait." He thought for a moment. "Cuddles can do my clinic hours, while Dr. Anderson can do my paperwork." He smiled. "Can't have you two ladies chatting when you should be doing my work, now can we."

Both women sent him a glare before heading off. Anderson went towards his office and Cuddy went to the Clinic, House following right behind. He followed her into a one of the exam rooms and sat down; Walters caught him and raised a brow.

"Just in case she needs a consult," He smiled innocently.

"Oh I have a better idea," She said as Cuddy walked in with a patient. "Dr. House can do his clinic hours while Dr. Cuddy does hers." She smirked. "Get to work House."

"Man," He glared as he stood up. "She's worse than you are."

Cuddy rolled her eyes. "I'll be fine here, dear." She said at the door while the mother and her son waited in the room. She gave him a wink and closed the door behind her.

House smiled, that woman. What would his life be like if she weren't how she was? He then took a file and limped into the nearest exam room.

"Mickey Hernandez, exam room 3."

After two hours of pretending to treat patients, House decided to take an early lunch break. He checked his pager to see if any lackeys were done with their tasks and figured they were still buried in files. With a satisfied smile he left the room and knocked on the door he had left Cuddy behind. After a moment there was no answer. He opened the door, surprised to see the room empty. He looked around the clinic and she was not in sight.

"Excuse me; do you know where Dr. Cuddy went?" House asked a nearby nurse.

"Um, yeah, she left about half an hour ago because she got a page," The nurse paused for a moment. "From you."

"From me?" House asked his eyes wide in surprise with a hint of fear. "I didn't page her."

The nurse merely shrugged. "That's where she said she was going." Then she went back to her work.

House quickly began to limp to the elevator and pressed his floor. Cuddy could be in grave danger. He limped to his office as quick as his legs would allow him and suddenly stopped. He breathed a sigh of relief as he watched two of his employees laughing and talking.

"I thought I told you to do clinic work." House interrupted them.

Cuddy smiled. "Yeah, but Anderson paged me saying she needed help. What kind of friend would ignore that?" She grinned innocently.

"Yeah, we just wanna finish your work so you don't get in trouble." Anderson giggled.

"What have you two she-witches been talking about?" House narrowed his eyes.

"Oh nothing." The girls sang with a smile and proceeded to giggle.

"Geez, how old are you?"

"Asks the biggest five years old in the world," Cuddy retorted quickly. "Oh calm down, we're almost done so we can both do your clinic duty so it'll be done quicker." She smiled.

House rolled his eyes knowing it was bull crock but decided against arguing. "Just hurry up," He saw Vinson walking towards the elevator. "On second thought," He smiled. "Lunch break," He dismissed them and began to limp towards his meal ticket, but suddenly paused. "If either of you tell the other two lackeys, you are doing all my clinic hours and the others too." He said and left the ladies.

Cuddy, not caring what threats her boss laid on her, told her cousin and colleague anyways before going to lunch with her best friend, to avoid questions from Jacob.

"So, is House really that good?" Anderson couldn't resist as they sat down to earshot of House and Vinson, though neither cared.

Cuddy didn't answer; she just smiled and took a bite of her salad.

"Omigod!" Anderson laughed. "No wonder you were so jealous of that other woman, what was her name again?"

Cuddy shrugged. "I forgot, but hey I thought we were done talking about that."

"I know," Anderson giggled. "But I couldn't help it! After what you told me in college, I just needed to know if he was still good, after all these years."

"With age comes wisdom and experience." They both laughed once more.

"You should know better than I," House said as he took a seat next to them with Vinson.

"Hey!" Cuddy objected. "You're older than me." She glared.

"Age is but a number my dear. You act more like some boring adult than I do." He countered.

"Normal people find that a good thing." She smiled.

"Normal's overrated."

"Said by a true king of the unconventional." Anderson quickly retorted.

"A title I take seriously, speaking of titles, which one of you spilled the beans on a break." He narrowed his eyes.

"What does that have to do with titles?" Cuddy asked with a laugh.

"I'm your boss, so who did it?"

"Talk to your girlfriend." Anderson quickly covered her hide.

"Thank you, Benedict Arnold." Cuddy glared playfully.

Anderson merely bowed. "So anyways, why were Jacob and I not filled in on the plan?" She asked a bit insulted.

"I second that." Jacob said as he took a seat.

"Because this is between the three of us not the five of us." Cuddy told them. "Plus, it was House's idea, I was against it but you know how demanding he is."

"Got that right."

"Here here."

"Yup."

They all sounded off at once.

"Well that helps my self-confidence." House said in false hurt.

"Hey you have enough of that, Mr. Dictator." Cuddy poked his chest.

They continued all laughed.

As everyone laughed and enjoyed each other's company, Daniel lingered at a nearby table and scowled. This was definitely not what he planned. After the party, he wanted Cuddy to completely isolate herself, bring herself into solitude making it easier for him to approach her without any suspicions or any problems. Instead, she surrounded herself with friends and loved ones. She was immersing herself with human contact, leaving no vulnerable spaces.

Suddenly something caught his eye. Something around her waist and what it was attached to that made him smile. Maybe there was a point of vulnerability after all. He might not have been able to scare her after the party and after catching her with her boyfriend, whom he suspected since they first met, but there were still many days left and many plans up his sleeve. All he had to do now was to wait.

"Mommy," He suddenly heard a little girl scream as she ran towards Cuddy with Lauren. Cuddy caught Rachel and placed her on both House's and her own legs.

Rachel smiled as she looked from her father and mother, she was glad he didn't have to leave for long, but she was still sad the short days he wasn't with them. Lauren took a seat at the table as well and joined the group.

"Mommy, do you and daddy love me?" Daniel heard the little girl ask her parents as she looked at them with a big smile.

Cuddy and House exchanged a look of surprise before they smiled at the little girl between them. "Of course we love you," Cuddy smiled. "You are my whole world, sweetie." She said honestly. "And daddy and I wouldn't trade you even for the whole universe. You are our special little girl." She hugged her daughter.

"Yeah Rach," House confirmed. "I would trade all the lollipops in the world for you," He winked.

Rachel's grin widened, knowing her father's love of lollipops. "Oh, daddy do you mean it?" She smiled and House nodded. Rachel tackled her father in a hug. "I love you too, Daddy."

"Great, why don't you get me a lollipop?" House quickly ruined their moment.

"Okay!" Rachel jumped down and quickly began to make her way to the exit.

"Hey!" Lauren called out, catching up to the girl quickly. "Wait for me, princess." She took Rachel's hand and the two made their way out of the cafeteria to the clinic to get a lollipop.

Daniel watched the scene unfold and suddenly smiled sinisterly. Maybe he didn't have to wait that long after all.

* * *

**A/N: Dun dun dun! I hope y'all liked it! Once again I am losing my eye for angst so this is going to end pretty soon. I think this is like two chapters combined into one. Just one chapter and this would have been a 1000+ instead its longer :D  
**

**What was that? Something important?**

**OH YEAH! The votes. I decided to make it a little more juicy. Okay this time, I'm going to reward teh first place winner with, not one update, but THREE, second place gets two and last of course gets one! If you guys want three updates in a row you gotta vote!**

**You may vote in reviews if you don't vote in my poll and please do tell me what you think. I do crave criticism, both good and bad. **

**Oh and in case any of you were wondering, not sure if I already stated this, but after I finish all my fanfics, there are four on hold, and the three I'm working on are almost done, I'm going to get into original writing so I might not be on fanfiction for a while writing. Just thought you should all know**

**Please review and Vote**

**-Jess**


	18. Rachel

**Disclaimer: I do not own House**

**A/N: OMG! YOU GUYS WON THE POLL! YOU WON! BY ONE VOTE! I am really shocked, not because you guys won, but because it was by one vote. LOL I always believed one vote changes everything but more often than not its two votes haha. CONGRATULATIONS GUYS! YOU GET THE THREE UPDATES IN A ROW... but that doesnt mean at the same second. LOL it just means no other story will be updated until you guys get your three updates. :) Congrats, you guys made it when it REALLY counted.**

**Now, I know this chapter isnt as long as my usual latelys but I thought the three chapters would make up for it plus it was a pretty good place to end. Now it'll get a little confusing at the end, but I will explain it at the ending author's note :) Please enjoy and if there are mistakes, just remember, its 3:30 in the morning. :) Enjoy! **

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Cuddy looked at her watch. Over thirty minutes had passed since House sent Rachel to get him a lollipop and her mother was nowhere in sight either. The clinic was only five minutes away. She bit her lip worriedly and House rubbed her arm seeing her distress.

"Calm down," He whispered, reading her mind as everyone continued to talk.

As in on cue Rachel burst through the door with her grandmother following right behind, completely worn out. Cuddy stood up and ran to her daughter scooping her up in her arms and letting a few tears fall as she held her closely to her chest.

"Mommy, I have to give this lollipop to daddy," Rachel whined as her mother suffocated her.

"Rachel, sweetie, what took you so long." Cuddy almost cried. "You had me so worried. I thought something happened to you and nana." She finally pulled away when she felt House's hand on her shoulder.

Rachel looked at her father and handed him the red lollipop. "Oh, cherry my favorite," House smiled gleefully as he stuck the candy into his mouth.

"I know daddy, that's why Nana took me to the 7-11 across the road." Rachel smiled.

Lauren caught her breath before explaining. "When we got the clinic they said they were out of cherry so Rachel ran out and I followed her to the convenience store and we got a new bag. Then Rachel brought it back to the clinic after she took the cherry one and told them it was for them."

Cuddy gave a sigh of relief. If they walked – ran – like Lauren had explained then it would have taken 15 minutes to get there and 15 to get back. Plus looking for the bag of lollipops the hospital has and then a cherry flavored one. The timeline did make sense, but Cuddy still couldn't help but feel a little shaken up. There was an odd premonition she felt, but she couldn't put her finger on what it was.

"Mommy," Rachel suddenly spoke and Cuddy looked down at the little girl whom she was hugging again. "I can't breathe."

Everyone laughed as Cuddy let the poor girl go and she began to pant heavily. "I'm sorry sweetie," Cuddy patted her back to help her cough and breathe. "Next time though, don't just run off like that. Wait for Nana or me to go with you and if they are out of Cherry don't run across the street, just get another flavor, alright?"

"Yes mommy," Rachel looked down guiltily, and it was House to the rescue.

"Come on Cuddy, you gotta admit the kid has guts and dedication to her daddy." He rubbed her hair and she smiled at him.

"It was very nice of you," Cuddy agreed and helped her daughter smile widen. Cuddy then turned to her mother, who sat down tiredly and drank water. "Mom," Lauren looked at her daughter through fatigue eyes. She wasn't as young as she used to be. "I could take Rachel off your hands for today, why don't you go relax somewhere."

Lauren smiled. "Lisa, you are such a saint, but you have work." She stated the obvious while motioning around the cafeteria.

"Well, we haven't found a case yet and until then all I'm doing is, well, just paperwork." Cuddy informed her. "Just like the a few years ago and I'd love to spend a day with my little girl. I'm sure my boss doesn't have a problem with it either, do you?" She smiled at House knowingly.

House narrowed his eyes playfully and looked at the little girl. He took her from Cuddy and pretended to examine her by putting her in the air and looking her over. Rachel giggled as House tickled her a little. He narrowed his eyes further and acted annoyed. He gave Rachel back to Cuddy and turned around with crossed arms and a pout.

"I guess she could stay," He looked away. "On one condition," They all looked at him in confusion. "She has to pass my test." He showed them a small pick for his guitar. He put his hands behind his back and shuffled a bit. He then put his hands back in front, balled into fists and asked Rachel, "Which hand is my pick in?"

Rachel smiled and looked at his hands. Then confidently she exclaimed, "Neither, it's under your shoe daddy." Rachel giggled as she pointed to the pick that peaked from under his shoe.

House smiled and ruffled her hair. "Watch out Jacob, she might be the one who takes your job." He joked. "I did train her myself." Rachel grinned cutely.

* * *

After lunch Cuddy and Anderson went back to House's office and the men went back to the ER. House followed the women and sat comfortably with his feet on the table as he watched his two new secretaries. Cuddy sent him a glare while he lounged around lazily.

"House, I wish you'd get your butt up and work." Cuddy told him as she held her threatening glare and made her she watched herself since Rachel was sitting in the room.

"Sorry old boss lady, but that isn't your department anymore, now is it?" House smirked as he put his hands behind his neck and leaned back further in his chair. "Wake me when something interesting happens." House said as he put his headset on and closed his eyes.

"God, what an ass," Anderson commented as she continued to file. "You love him because? Are you being forced to date him?" She asked her friend with false care and placed a playful hand on her arm.

"Ha-ha," Cuddy couldn't help but laugh mockingly. "Watch your language around my daughter," She told her friend sternly. "And well, I am half being forced." She admitted. Anderson looked at her in confusion. "I do love him very much, for god knows why, but I didn't want to be in a relationship with him as long as that insane man was around here, but he convinced me eventually." Cuddy smiled as she looked over to her lover.

"You know I can still hear you," House didn't hide his smirk after hearing the declaration of her love for him.

"Good, then I don't have to tell you again later." Cuddy smiled goofily before turning to her daughter who squirmed in her seat. "What's wrong baby?"

"Oh I'm fine," House told her and she rolled her eyes.

"Not you," She put her hands on Rachel's shoulder. "Are you alright Rach?"

"I need to go potty." Rachel didn't run out since her mother had scolded her just a few minutes ago.

"Oh sweetie, you should have just told us." Cuddy turned to House. "House, since you are clearly doing nothing, why don't you take our daughter to the bathroom?"

"Oh but I am doing something, my dear," He closed his eyes once more. "I am sleeping."

Cuddy glared and got ready to argue with the insufferable man when Anderson stood up. "Come on Rachel, I'll take you while mommy and daddy have foreplay. I need to get out of this office for a few minutes anyways." She took Rachel's hand and began to walk out.

"Auntie Ginger," Rachel looked up curiously as they walked out. "What's foreplay?"

* * *

Wilson, long back in Princeton, looked over the final files before going home. He remembered how both his friends reacted to seeing that creep at the Christmas party and he was shocked Cuddy had invited him, but he acted as if they had just met. Curious, he looked up the name of his former superior. He quickly found several links that could provide him with the information he needed and decided to click on the first.

His eyes grew wide at the headline he read from an old newspaper over 30 years old. He reread it several times before reading the article. After skimming and getting the important highlights of the astounding article he opened another webpage and looked for a more current article until he found just what he needed.

Picking up his phone and dialing a number he knew to memory, he kept his eyes locked on the two articles.

_Obsessive Ex-Boyfriend Attempted to Rape Defenseless Ex-Girlfriend_

_Daniel Fisher, Psychopathic Inmate Escapes Asylum after Killing Psychologist_

_

* * *

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"Rachel, sometimes I think you're parents are crazy." Anderson said when they entered the bathroom as she immediately made her way to the sink to wash her face and get freshened up.

"I've known that for a while Aunt Ginger," Rachel said jokingly through the stall.

"That's good," Ginger smiled into the mirror.

Suddenly there was a loud noise coming from outside the bathroom. Anderson, as a reflex, quickly ran to check what it was. There was a huge mess at a nurse's station just a few feet away. Two carts had crashed into each other spilling all containments, and unfortunately for every doctor and nurse in the area, the first cart was open boxes of meds and the second were brand new glass test tubes. Why they were where they were, nobody knew nor did anyone care with the mess.

"Dr. Anderson, please can you help?" A nearby doctor asked pulling her towards the mess of pills, broken plastic and glass without waiting for a response.

"Rachel, come out to the nurse's station when you're done." She managed to call out before going to help everyone fix the mess.

* * *

House groaned as he felt his phone vibrate. Cuddy stopped talking to him after Rachel left the room, deciding that she didn't feel like wasting her breath on nothing. She stared at him with a brow raised as he whined and reached his phone. She smiled. Cuddy loved how karma always makes House suffer if only a little.

"What do you want?" House asked annoyed into his phone, knowing the Dancing Queen ringtone too well.

"House, it's about Fisher, I think you and Cuddy should know something." Wilson spoke frantically as he skimmed the articles quickly once more.

"Wilson, whatever it is you just found out about Fisher, we've known for a while now." House rolled his eyes as he put Wilson on speaker for Cuddy to hear.

"Sorry Wilson, House probably knows more than you do." Cuddy told him as she continued to file through the papers. Thank god for her years as Dean, or this would have been deathly boring.

"I don't think you know everything. I think that he is more danger than you might think Lisa." Wilson said her first name to let her know this was completely personal. "He is probably ten times worse than you think."

House and Cuddy listened in intently. Maybe Wilson did have something important to say afterward. Neither spoke and waited for Wilson to go on with his statement.

"Lisa, Greg," Wilson paused. "Fisher killed his psychologist, he's a murderer."

* * *

"Aunt Ginger where are you?" Rachel called out as she walked out of the bathroom. Her eyes suddenly grew huge as she saw a man approach her. "Aunt Ginger," She managed to scream once more.

"Rachel?" Anderson looked up hearing the scream. She stood up and looked around. "Rachel, where are you?" She knew she heard the little girl. She quickly ran to the bathroom, abandoning the mess, and went to the stall she last saw the girl at. Empty. Panicked she ran out.

"Rachel!"

* * *

**A/N: Apparently dashes dont work anymore so I have to use the actual line to separate my sections lol well anyways, around the ending everything began to happen at the same time. When Wilson did his research and the girls were in the bathroom same time. When Wilson talked to them and Rachel was calling for Ginger, same time. LOL I dont really know how to do that, so if you guys have suggestions that would be great.**

**AMAZING JOB GUYS! FIRST PLACE AND THREE UPDATES! You must be happy :) I know I am. Sadly, this story is almost over! Maybe 2 or 3 chapters more, but sadly its almost over. Sorry. **

**Now, you don't have to vote for a lil while. I wont be changing the poll till you guys get your third update, but please do review. I love hearing your thoughts and if you guys liked it or thought it could have been better :) **

**Congratulations again**

**-Jess**


	19. Trust him

**Disclaimer: I do not own House**

**A/N: WOO I stayed up late so I could have this posted for you guys TODAY Lol anyways. This chapter is going to be a lot more confusing, but I will explain it at the end lol. :D Sorry, it was because of how I ORIGINALLY had the characters panned out buuut i totally forgot XD haha and remembered at the last minute I decided to try it a bit. :D oh and sorry if there are any mistakes, it is 4 am**

**To Kelly: Thanks for reading all my stories :D and I'm glad you like them enough to want them all updated. With the votes, I used to update randomly but I realized I began to favor some stories over others and I have turned into a very just kinda person and I wanted the updates to be fair so I decided to do it in the order of the votes. I realized that voting could be more fun so this time I decided to raise the stakes for not just the first updates but for a certain number. Don't worry, only one more update for this story and the others will be updated. Oh and as for the tie with Emergency Page, that was only on the poll lol. Remember, I began to realize that not everyone had accounts so I decided that anonymous reviewers could vote if they say they vote for a certain story. This story got 2 anon votes and Emergency Page only got 1 making this story the winner lol. That clear it all up? LOL sorry for the confusion **

**Oh and I feel like a total jerk for not noticing this, but you guys went over 100 reviews :) Thanks! I feel really honored and it's great for writing for readers like you I know it hasn't been that easy dealing with a writer like me but thank you so much for sticking to the story and helping me achieve over 100 reviews :) **

**ENJOY**

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"How have those dumb ass police not caught him yet, he's still going by his same name and even using it as a title." House almost bellowed.

"Well the picture and the Fisher we both know look completely different," Wilson analyzed the photo. "Plus he isn't the only Daniel Fisher in the world and he is a psychopath, he could have easily assumed a new identity with the same name. The police are close to ruling him dead because it seems like he's been missing for a long time." Wilson gave audible sigh. "I'll call the police and tell them though, but I wanted to warn you guys first."

"Thanks for the information, Wilson. We'll keep our guard up," House said as he looked at Cuddy who now stared at the phone with fear coursing through her veins. He hung up the phone and put an assuring hand on Cuddy. "Look at me," He commanded and he saw the terror in her eyes. "We'll be fine, we know now and everything will be fine." He told her with a small smile, which she returned gratefully.

Cuddy then turned to the clock and furrowed her brows once more. "Where are Ginger and Rachel," She bit her lip nervously.

"I'm sure they are just taking their time gossiping." House stated jokingly, trying to lighten Cuddy's mood just a little.

Suddenly, Anderson came running up to the door and hung on to its frame, panting out of breath. Cuddy's eyes grew wide as she looked at her long time friend. Ginger regulated her breathing before looking down and giving a small gasp. Since she was breathing so hard neither doctors noticed her crying. Anderson looked up and stared Cuddy in the eyes while tears streamed down her face.

"Lisa," She shook her head and sobbed. "I'm really sorry, I didn't…" She hiccupped as the tears became unbearable. "I'm so sorry, I left her for a second to clean up a mess and," She cried a little harder. "I'm so sorry."

Cuddy's eyes grew wider as she began to take deep breaths. Her body began to quiver uncontrollably and she turned to House for support. He looked at her in sorrow and pulled her into his arms as he tried to keep his emotions intact.

"Oh god, House," Cuddy fought to keep the tears at bay. "He has her," She began to gasp as she breathed. "That son of a bitch has our little girl."

Anderson tried to blink away the tears as she attempted to explain. "There was a crash and- and I don't know," She looked at her weak friend. "They pulled me away and I was only a few feet away and I heard her scream and I looked and she wasn't there and," She looked up to see the two other doctors staring at her, her best friend at the verge of tears. "I couldn't find her anywhere Lisa, I looked everywhere and I'm so sorry."

"He must have staged the crash, somehow he must have staged it to get Rachel." House converted his emotions into anger and hatred. "That son of a bitch," He clenched his fist as tight as he could.

Jacob and Michelson came running up, both with case files in his hand. They paused at the door to see the two women with tears streaming down their cheeks. Michelson stood confused as Jacob, reading the situation, scrunched his nose and threw the file on the table.

"Where is the asshole?" He asked, pure anger evident in his voice. "I'm going to kill him," He screamed scornfully with a small growl, causing a few nearby doctors and nurses to scurry off in fear.

"What's going on?" Michelson asked in confusion.

"That son of a bitch, Fisher happened," Jacob said, he wasn't quite sure what was going on but he knew that he must have done something if his cousin was breaking down in public.

"He," Cuddy attempted to explain, but before the words could leave her lips more tears fell.

"He took Rachel and we think he might try to do something to her," House tried not to say exactly what both he and Cuddy were thinking, in fear that she might break apart more than she already has.

"I'll tell Walters," Michelson quickly left, being the only one with who was able to think straight since he had no connection to Rachel other than his boss and colleague.

When Michelson went to get Walters and House paged Vinson , not wanting to leave the room for now since Cuddy needed him. The last thing she'd want is for him to leave her when a crisis like this was happening. Not again. If Wilson called the police like he said he would they should be at the hospital in just a few hours, hopefully they find Rachel alive before that or there might be a few complications.

"House, what's going on?" Vinson immediately made his way to the office. He saw the two woman just as Jacob did and realized the distress. "What do you need me to do?" He was ready for anything.

"We need to find Rachel before that psychopath kills her." House told him, accidentally letting it slip up and he heard Cuddy's breath catch in her throat. House tightened his embrace on her and buried his nose in her hair as she cried endlessly into his shoulder.

"Oh god House," Cuddy repeated as she tried to regain herself, but the thought of her daughter dying at the hands of the man that could have killed her broke her heart.

Right then Walters and Michelson made their way down the hall.

"He hasn't left the building yet," Walters informed them and a splash of relief washed over their bodies for a second. "I'm having security blocking the entrances and they are going to search the building."

"Thanks Diane, Vinson and I will join the party," House suddenly volunteered and Walters nodded knowing exactly what House was thinking.

"Then I'm going with you," Cuddy told him, she didn't want to be left alone and she was shocked when she heard him volunteer.

House knew she needed him but he couldn't just sit there and do nothing. If he left Cuddy with Walters though, he knew she'd be in good hands. If there was anyone at the hospital he could trust other than Vinson and Cuddy, it was definitely her.

"No, Lisa," House looked at her sternly. "He's after you too and I'm not going to risk it. I'm going out because Rachel needs me, but she's going to need you to be safe and alive if anything happens."

"I can't lose you," Cuddy whispered as she looked at the ground.

"I'll be fine, Vinson here will be there to back me up and Walters will stay here with you." House reassured her, Walters nodded once more in confirmation.

"Don't worry Lisa," Vinson smiled. "I'm a black belt."

"I'm gonna go too," Jacob said and Michelson nodded to motion his participation. "If anyone should get the chance to beat the crap out of him first, it's me."

"I'll look too," Anderson said after she finally cleared up her tears. "Rachel was my responsibility, I'm going to get her back."

"No Ginger, you stay here with Lisa, too." Jacob told her. "She needs you and we can all be reassured if you stay here with everyone else."

"He's right, just stay here. We don't need any of you getting into any trouble you don't need to. He'll try to get the women so he has more of an advantage." House told them. "Walters you know what to do." He then turned to the other three men and nodded. "We'll be back with Rachel." He told Cuddy with a smile before leaving with the rest.

Cuddy let a few stray tears fall as she watched her cousin and boyfriend leave, most likely risking their lives to save her daughter and keep her safe. Anderson put a comforting arm around her and let Cuddy lean against her for support.

"You can trust him," Walters said as she stared at the empty doorway. Cuddy looked at her in confusion. "I know Greg for longer and much better than you may think," She admitted. "He and I go way back which is the only reason he has this job. I don't act like I know him that well so the professional distance I established won't have a chance of getting breached. That certainly won't happen now that you're back in his life though." She turned and smiled at Cuddy. "And if there's anything I do know about him from the last few years, it's that when it comes to you he'll always be there."

Cuddy looked up at the woman in amazement. She had been giving her tips on how to deal with House but she already knew exactly how, she just put up the best act in the world. Walters managed to fool everyone, maybe even herself, into thinking that she and House knew very little about each other. She smiled because she knew that only someone who knew House and learned from him could really pull that off though.

She then looked at the ground. That's why she always had a strange feeling when the two were around each other. That's why she saw noticed Walters and House flirting on her first day at the job, Walters just slipped up and let her façade fall for a moment, but she put it back up so easily and much stronger. When she talked to House it was as if they were strangers every time. How did she not notice, that was an obvious giveaway.

Then, Walters words sunk in in Cuddy's mind. She said House would always come through for her. He'd always be there for her and if she couldn't count on anything at all, she could always count on House keeping his word for no one but her. She couldn't help but smile.

_I'm counting on you, House. _Cuddy thought. _Please, let Walters' sweet words be true. Please don't let me down this time._

* * *

It had been an hour since they started to search for the son of a bitch who had Rachel. The men broke up into teams. Jacob and Michelson were checking the 1st-3rd floor and House and Vinson were checking any floors above that. As they made it to the 7th and final floor of the hospital House looked down the corridor. This floor consisted mostly of legal rooms as well as rehabilitation and filing.

"You check this floor, I'll go up to the roof." House told Vinson.

"But I promised-"

"I'll be fine," House assured him. "It's just the roof and this place if small. You should finish in no time."

Vinson sighed, knowing in a situation like this there was no use in fighting with House. Especially since Rachel was at risk. He just nodded in understanding and left to check the floor while House went up the stairs, the best he could, to the roof.

To House's surprise the door was unlocked. He pushed it open only a little and peaked out to see if the coast was clear. When he saw no one with the small vantage point he had, he opened the door fully and was silence immediately.

* * *

Cuddy sat nervously in her seat after finally calming down from the initial shock. Walters had security posted right outside the door in case, just as House had told her to. The three women sat in a triangle, no one saying a thing, but all wearing the same look of concern. Cuddy looked up to Walters for reassurance, after learning that she might know House even better than she did, and Walters just smiled back comfortingly. She let a small smile appear and she relaxed in her seat.

Suddenly, all three women jumped when they heard a loud vibration. Cuddy quickly grabbed her phone and read the vague text message she received. After realizing it was from House and probably something he sent knowing she could easily decipher she looked it over trying to read it.

After a moment her eyes grew wide in realization. House found out she began to text avidly after dating Lucas and she could read just about any typo thanks to it.

"Oh god," She shook her head as it began to dawn down on her what was happening. Walters and Anderson looked at her in suspense. "House is being held captive on the roof."

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**A/N: Okay i am officially POed. MS Word wont work anymore so I have to use Office Works Microsoft Word Processor which sucks soo bad because with MS Word the format you saw was the format you get. With Processor the format you saw was shit and if you pasted it to another place it was all one huge paragraph that looked really annoying. And if it werent for email and amazing FF autofix I would probably kill this program. Okay.. breathe... lol anyways, told you it'd be a little confusing and random. Let me explain**

**With Walters, I originally had her to be House's ex-girlfriend, but I never really got to explain that because I couldnt find the right moment, like when I planned the right moment it always changed so I decided to just have her a close friend. Now what happened was that since she was a close friend she knew House very well and didn't want anything but a professional relationship with him, to obtain that she decided to act as if they were total strangers. House quickly saw this and they had a silent, mutual understanding and he acted as if she were just a boss to him as well. I hope that clears things up, if you still dont get it just tell me and I'll try to explain it better.**

**Sorry it sounds really random I just couldnt find a better time then this to like tell you guys lol. I WAS planning a sequel and that would have been good info for the sequel but seeing as I want to get into my own writing I dont think that sequel will be comin**

**Anyways, there is the second update. One more before I move on to my next story and let you guys vote. lol. I hope you liked it and as usual please review. I love hearing your thoughts as usual. It always motivates me, good and bad. :) **

**-Jess**


	20. No Worries

**Disclaimer: I do not own House**

**A/N: Hello people, this is Jess's should-be-at-this-rate secretary, doin' her favors and such.**

**This is her edited chapter because, well, you know why.**

**...**

**Okay well XD yea **Rei** is a great friend she beta-ed this chapter and was willing ti post it for me. :D Cuz my sis and her bf decided to drag me out and get a life haha. anyways**

**what she meant was I edited this because the original version, to put it in simple words, sucked lol it was definitely missing a lot of key points so I decided to just add in and change stuff... XD lol okay I official hate word processor I just spent like five minutes trying to fix the format so if there are a few problems with it I'm sorry I tried lol**

**Now if this chapter still seems a little iffy I apologize, I tried my best but I'm not good at climaxes. I'm good at imagining them...not so much depicting them lol. So...  
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**ENJOY**

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House opened the door to the roof fully and was immediately silenced. Daniel held his little angel in his arms with a gun to her head.

"Get out here silently or I'll kill her," Daniel told him. "And if you try to call for police I'll kill you. Give me your cane." He commanded and House handed it over obediently. Daniel chucked it over the edge of the building and motioned for House to come out.

House bit his tongue and held back a snarl as he came out onto the roof. He looked at Rachel worriedly. As he walked out Daniel looked into the staircase and make sure no one else was following House. House, who stood behind the dangerous man, proceeded in trying to contact Cuddy the best he could.

Daniel turned around and caught sight of the phone. Quickly he took the gun and shot at House's hand. House screamed in pain as the bullet penetrated his right hand and made him drop the phone. Not wanting to waste any bullets, he punched House and kicked him on the hurt leg. House fell to his knees, writhing in pain. He began to breathe heavily as he tried not to scream.

"Why the hell are you doing this?" He breathed out every word slowly and the pain in his voice was music to the psycho's ears.  
"Because scum like you don't deserve to live a happy life," Daniel told him with a snicker.

"Scum like me," House called out as he tried to stand, but the pain in his leg was too great and he fell back to his knees. "I'm not the one who kidnapped an innocent little girl and is using her to kill other people." House barely choked out.

Daniel kicked House in the stomach making him fall even further. "You aren't so innocent though, Dr. House." Daniel told him as he walked circles around the fallen cripple. "You stayed out of jail because someone committed perjury. You abuse the people closest to you. You're an ass who doesn't follow rules. You risk people's lives everyday and you cause so many law suits it's a wonder you even got a job."

Daniel happily watched him victim squirm at his feet. House wanted so badly to punch that smug smile off his face but knew that if he moved even an inch the bastard might kill Rachel. He wasn't going to do anything that might hurt his little girl. Suddenly Daniel went over to the edge of the building and smiled.

* * *

Lauren was at the mall when Cuddy called frantically to tell her about Rachel's abduction. She was relaxing with a massage but immediately decided to cancel the rest of the appointment to go to her little girl. She hurriedly jumped into her car and started it, driving as fast as the law would allow her on the highway.

"Don't worry Rachel," She spoke to herself. "Nana's coming," She stared worriedly at the road.

Suddenly she received a text message. Normally she would ignore the text and pay attention to the road, but it could be her daughter with news about her granddaughter. Hesitantly she grabbed her phone and opened the text messages while keeping her eyes on the road. After a moment, she looked down to read the text message and saw it was from an unknown number. She read the text message aloud.

"You should be watching the road," She looked up and her eyes grew wide.

* * *

Daniel's smile only widened when he got a text confirming what he was looking for. House quietly crawled from behind to get his phone back. Unfortunately for him, Daniel's basking of glory ended too soon and he caught the man's futile attempt to get help. He shot at the phone and House's good hand.

"God dammit," He cursed as he felt the bullet pierce his skin.

"You won't be needing that where you're going." He gave an evil smile as he held the gun towards House and pulled the trigger.

* * *

"We should all try to remain calm," Walters spoke trying to keep her voice even and calm.

Anderson closed her eyes and bit her lip just hoping the two were safe as Cuddy fidgeted in her seat.

"I'll call for back up from security and-" She stopped when she saw Cuddy suddenly jump from her seat frustrated.

"Are you expecting us to just wait around?" Cuddy asked as she looked at Walter's incredulously.

"I'm sorry Lisa, but that's all we could do." Walters told her.

Cuddy turned to Anderson and she looked down defeated, knowing that Walters was right. What made Cuddy madder was she knew that a few years ago she would have said the exact same thing if it happened to some else. Walters, seeing Cuddy subdue for the moment, assumed she agreed and turned to the security guards.

After thinking for a moment of the worse case scenario Cuddy decided she couldn't just stand around like Walters commanded. For god sake, her daughter and boyfriend might be dying and all she was doing was standing there. Quickly, she took off out the door and raced towards the staircase.

"Lisa!" Walters called out but it was useless. She turned to Anderson and saw that she was tempted to follow in her friend's steps. "Don't, we already have three hostages, we don't need another." She immediately commanded and had security keep Anderson in the room while she went to get backup.

Cuddy rushed up the stairs, two at a time. She was suddenly eternally grateful she had gone out for morning runs. If she weren't so fast she would have never gotten away from the security guards, but she also wouldn't have ran into Vinson. They both landed on their butts but Cuddy quickly got back on her feet and ran up the stairs, Vinson following in confusion.

"Lisa wait," Vinson called out.

"No, Greg and Rachel could be hurt," She shouted as she pushed the door to the roof open and burst in, without stopping she came to the edge of the building. Vinson quickly followed right behind her and grabbed hold of her arms before she had a chance to fall.

Cuddy panted as she tried to catch her breath. She looked around her and saw House's cane at the bottom of the building, but no House. She swallowed hard at the possibility that House might have fallen. Vinson carefully pulled her back away from the edge. He could feel her pulse racing and knew what she was thinking, he too had caught glimpse of the cane.

"Just stay calm Lisa," Vinson told her as she sat on a small step. She nodded and he smiled before going back to the edge and looking around. "He's body isn't down there so he is probably still up here somewhere." Cuddy heard the tension in his voice, though he tried to keep it at a minimal.

Cuddy, who was looking towards the ground, faced Vinson and smiled, silently thanking him for trying to comfort her. He looked at his surroundings. There wasn't really a place to hide. The only good place to hide was behind the entrance but doubted they'd be there. Nonetheless, he left Cuddy for a moment and went to look behind.

Suddenly, Cuddy caught glimpse of something that lingered around the entrance. "Vinson," She called out, trying to warn him, Vinson turned around to look at Cuddy. Then with his back turned, Cuddy's eyes grew wide with fear and she stood up. "Behind you," She yelled as she tried to run to her friend.

He turned around in shock and was met with two bullets racing towards him. Luckily the first one missed, but the second hit him in the lower abdomen. Cuddy got ready to race to him, but Daniel came out holding Rachel with the gun to her head.

"I wouldn't get any closer Lisa," He smiled wickedly.

Cuddy began to breath heavily as she looked at her unconscious daughter's innocent face in the arms of the monster who took her. Tears began to stream down her face and she realized House must be behind the entrance and she bit her lip praying he was still alive.

"Why Daniel," She began to sob. "Why are you doing all this?" She called out.

"Because Lisa, you took away everything I had," Daniel explained as he locked the door of the entrance. "You told all your friends I stalked you so no one would talk to me. You dumped me for no good reason. You got me arrested and took away my life, my world, everything I ever had worked so hard for. Then you and your pretty boy boyfriend began to show off your 'happy' relationship. Throwing it in my face that you were happy.

"She's a really pretty girl," He began to talk about Rachel as he caressed her resting face with the gun. "I understand why you make her your world, it'll be a shame if she died at such a tender age." He seemed to smile at the thought of killing her.

"Daniel, please don't," Cuddy began to beg.

"Why not?" He snapped. "Why shouldn't I take everything you love so dearly, like you did to me?"

Cuddy just looked away. Did he really think she did all those things to him on purpose? Did he believe she was out to ruin his life and there was no just cause for what was handed to him? She never told a soul, other than Jacob and her mother, that he began to stalk her after they broke up. She was going to leave him alone until he kidnapped her. He was given a fair trial in front of his peers and she didn't even testify against him, she stayed out of it.

"I didn't do those things to you," Cuddy tried to reason with him. "You did that all to yourself Daniel."

"You know your mom was a really nice person, Lisa," He suddenly changed the subject and Cuddy's heart began to race.

"What did you do to my mother, Daniel," She didn't hide the anger and fear that was so evident in her voice.

"Oh nothing, I left her alone," Daniel smiled at the ground. "It's a pity she was all alone when the accident happened though."

"What accident," Cuddy screamed as she began to take slow deep breaths.

"Oh just the accident on the freeway." Daniel loved to see how he affected Cuddy. "She was so tired and probably didn't see that other car coming. Too bad about the gas leak too, the ambulance was even stalled. I guess when its time for someone to die they die." He smiled.

Cuddy's eyes grew wide and her nose flared in anger. "You son of bitch," She screamed as she balled her hands into a tight fist. She got ready to pounce him when she saw her daughter still in his arms. She furrowed her brows, let out a weak breath of air, and let the fists go realizing she was in a tight spot.

"That's right Lisa," Daniel smiled. "I'm in command of this game." He practically glowed as he watched Cuddy slowly deteriorate into a weak, defenseless being. "Here," He threw something towards her which she caught skillfully. She opened it to see it was a pocket knife. "That's the only way you're going to save your angel."

Cuddy stared at the sharpened utensil in her hand. "Daniel, I won't kill you," She told him.

"You really are an idiot, aren't you?" He asked as he held Rachel tighter. "I don't want you to kill me." He smiled wickedly once more as he saw Cuddy's face shimmer in horror as she realized what he wanted her to do. "I want to watch as you slowly slit your throats and squirm in pain as you die."

Cuddy began to quiver once more as she panted. Her hand shook as she stared at the knife in her hand and tears began to flow strongly down her cheek once more. She felt the blade and cut her thumb only a little, it hurt but she felt so numb from all the crying.

"Come on now," He hurried her. "You wouldn't want poor, cute little Rachel here dying because her mother was selfish and didn't want to die for her." He put the gun closer to the young girl's head. "Now do you?" He screamed.

Cuddy's tears came out more forceful as she began to sob. This definitely wasn't the end she was hoping or even thinking would happen. She slowly began to raise the blade to her throat and closed her eyes.

"I'm sorry Rachel," She sobbed as the tears fell from her cheeks onto the blade. "I love you so much baby, and I'm so sorry." She closed her eyes and swallowed hard, ready to take the fate that was decided for her.

"Hey! Unlock this door," They suddenly heard security pound on the door to the roof.

"Hurry up, my finger is starting to slip on the trigger," Daniel laughed knowing that security would never get to them in time. Someone was going to die before they'd get out.

Cuddy opened her eyes to look at Rachel one more time. She wore a sad, determined face as she watched Rachel. Suddenly, something caught her eye and she had to look down to hide a small smile. She took a deep breath to mask her emotion and put the blade against her skin.

Daniel dropped his gun, just a little, and smiled as Cuddy slowly began to pierce her skin. After a moment, he notice a small smile on her face and she was looking passed him. He turned around just as House, weak but conscious, pounced on him.

Quickly, Cuddy threw the blade and ran towards the two men to catch her daughter as Daniel let go of her. Cuddy caught Rachel with a tuck and roll to assure both of their safety as House tackled Daniel to the ground. Daniel's finger slipped and the gun shot off as House pinned the man under him. He screamed in pain as the weight House placed on him caused a few bones to break.

House's victorious smirk was knocked away when he heard Cuddy's scream in pain. He turned around to see Cuddy hanging onto Rachel as she fell to her knees on the concrete. Daniel gave a small smile thinking he must have shot her before clenching his teeth in pain.

Security finally made their way in took Daniel from under House. Several doctors and nurses pushed their way through with three stretchers. They quickly got Vinson, whom was barely conscious, onto one of the stretchers and rushed him off to surgery. Walters went to check on House while Jacob and Ginger rushed to Lisa.

House's eyes were half opened and he was weak from the amount of blood he had lost. He looked to Cuddy as she sat up and held her shoulder as the blood dripped down her arm. He smiled, glad to see she was alright, before collapsing.

"Bring one of those stretchers over here," Walters called to a few of the nurses who immediately made their way to him.

Cuddy, still holding Rachel, stood up and looked worriedly at her boyfriend. Ginger took Rachel from Cuddy and she went over to her boyfriend as they rushed him inside. A few of the nurses tried to examine Cuddy's wound but she brushed them away.

"I'm fine," She reassured them. "It's just a flesh wound, I was just grazed," She ignored the burning pain it caused her. She turned to Walters and looked worriedly. "Is he going to be alright?" She begged for an answer.

Walters smiled at her and nodded. "Don't worry about him, he'll be fine. He just lost a lot of blood. They'll get him into surgery immediately to get those bullets out and then they will start the blood transfusion."

Cuddy let out a sight of relief. "Oh thank god," She began to breathe.

"Oh and by the way, your mother is in the ER getting a few stitches from a car accident she was in. it's a miracle she got away so fast before the flames started, chasing that daughter of yours has some advantages." She smiled. "She should be fine now." Walters added for reassurance. "You should get that flesh wound treated though and clean up that cut on your throat before you get an infection." Walters suggested as she pulled one of the nurses aside. "She'll take you to House's room after you get yourself checked out."

"Thank you," Cuddy smiled before turning to watch the cops take Fisher away, hopefully for good this time.

"I will get you Lisa," Daniel growled. "This isn't the end, it will never end." He laughed evilly before they pushed his head into the elevator and left.

Jacob put a reassuring hand on Cuddy's good shoulder. "If he does come back, we'll be ready next time." He smiled.

Cuddy gave a sad smile before nodding. Finally it was all over. She was able to rest peacefully without worrying that he might be around to get her. With a small sigh of relief she followed the nurse down the stairs and into one of the exam rooms. The door closed and no one had to worry about anything.

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**A/N: Alright so there you go, the chapter before the last chapter LOL second to last chapter. I hope you all liked it and if you already read it sorry I just needed to fix it especially after I consulted my, quote unquote, should-be-at-this-rate secretary Rei lol. **

**The next chapter will just be the resolution, tying all loose ends as my 7th grade english teacher taught us, is some how you're reading this Lady L, you rock! lol so if you have any more questions or wondering or even have suggestions go ahead and tell me anyway you want and I will definitely try to answer them or add them into the last chapter.**

**Please do review and tell me what you think, I love to hear all your thoughts good and bad and do be honest. If you think you're being mean send it I'd love to read it :)**

**Poll is back to normal. Vote as usual for what to be updated FIRST and votes cast via review are always counted**

**I love writing for you guys**

**-Jess**


	21. Epilogue

**Disclaimer: I do not own House**

**A/N: OMIGOSH DONT KILL ME lol i am SOOO sorry! I was going to update a week ago but my parents and sister decided to dump me at my god sister's house so we can hang since we havent seen each for three years. So yeah SORRY! I really wanted it to get this up soon**

**Justine: HEY DON'T BE SORRY YOU'RE COMING TO SEE ME!**

**LOL that was my god sister I was reading this out loud. Anyways, don't hate her though, she edited this whole thing, cuz I was SUPER lazy at 5 am (we're staying up till 8 so we can go out XD) lol anyways, yea sorry for the long wait again and I hope this clears up an questions. Now so you guys wont wait any longer  
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**ENJOY**

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**Three months later**

House groaned as he began to wake. He could feel something trailing down from the corner of his lips to his collar. He peaked through one eye and smirked before closing his eyes again and relaxing with a sigh.

"If you're going to take advantage of me can't you do it while I'm awake to enjoy it?" He smiled as he opened his eyes once more to look down at his girlfriend.

Cuddy chuckled and looked up from her spot below him with a wolfish smile. "But it's more fun when your unconscious. You don't squirm or wiggle when you feel frisky."

He couldn't help but chuckle at her playful attitude and slowly began to sit up. Cuddy continued to kiss, nip, and suck on his collar, and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her onto the bed next to him. She giggled and laughed as she fell over and snuggled into his chest cutely looking up at him. House smiled at her loving expression and leaned down to kiss her chastely.

"Where's the rest of the House watch squad?" House asked as he looked around at the empty room.

For the past three months House had been surrounded by his loving friends and family. His mother even came down to visit him. She and Lauren had a great discussion about their kids' futures. Jacob and Ginger looked over him along with Walters. Walters and Cuddy were able to begin to bond and find a common interest: House and commanding him.

After spending three months with each other, Cuddy eventually found out about House's bond with Walters. They had been childhood friends, both were military brats and once in a while their parents united. They ended up going to Hopkins together and she had helped him get into the cheerleading squad to impress a girl he likes, only to find out that she was engaged… and Walters knew. Nonetheless, Walters and House were still close friends and when Walters ever needed help or was in trouble House would help her, if only a little. She never wanted their relationship to become "more than friends" with House so she guarded herself, though they did flirt a little. Once she found out that Cuddy had arrived though - knowing House's true thoughts of her - she sizzled it down and decided to play dumb.

"They decided to finally go home, isn't that what you wanted babe? " Cuddy began to kiss her way to his neck again, "For us to be alone."

House smiled and helped her crawl on top of him. She began to kiss his chest and ran her hands along his body. He rubbed her ass and she licked around collar. He moaned in approval and pressed his hands against her large butt, motioning for her to go up higher. Instead Cuddy hopped out of the bed and smirked.

"Not in the hospital," House pouted, but Cuddy began to kiss him once more before whispering seductively into his ear, "But later for sure." Then she stood back and smiled innocently at him. "You're getting discharged tonight. Are you happy?"

"To be back home in bed and sexing you up," House smiled and sat up straight, "Are you really questioning my state of happiness with that obvious thought in mind?"

Cuddy couldn't help but laugh as she sat in the chair that was positioned very closely to her boyfriend's bed and placed a hand on his. Blythe had preoccupied this chair more than anyone. Lauren just came to visit when she could with Rachel and often left when House fell asleep and miraculously arrived back when he woke. Walters would often leave to do her usual work and only visit once in a while, if she was free. As for Jacob, Ginger and Michelson, they abused their boss' situation and often wouldn't come to work at all, though they did periodically check on him. When it was time for everyone to sleep or go home Blythe would often leave with Lauren and stay in the guestroom; even if a chair was free for the taking, Cuddy just crawled into House's bed with him and cuddled into his chest.

"So why are we waiting till tonight to go home and start our us time?" House smirked as he clutched Cuddy's hand in reflex.

She smiled back at him. "They want to check a few more things before they send you on your way. Then, you and I will be fine and alone," She winked.

In the course of three months, when House had insomnia, Cuddy used every will of power she had to stay up with him. They would often spend hours talking, getting closer, and laughing until one of them, usually Cuddy, fell asleep. Of course, House didn't mind that she would fall asleep. He would wrap an arm around her and close his eyes. Surprisingly enough, he could fall asleep easier when she was snuggling into his chest with comfort.

"Mmm, I can't wait," He replied leaning down to kiss Cuddy's cheek tenderly.

Cuddy stayed by House's side as the doctors and nurses completed their final tests. He held his tongue as they entered and re-entered. She smiled thankfully and showed gratitude by snuggling up to him once they were alone again. She even went as far as to let him grope her if only for a few minutes. It had taken three hours and House was finally able to leave at 8 o' clock. He gave a final groan as they wheeled him out in a wheelchair.

After they had gotten outside Cuddy helped House out of his chair and, though he didn't like it, she helped him to her car since his cane had broken in half from the fall off the roof. Once they had gotten into the car, Cuddy rushed towards House's apartment, leaving no room for a meaningful conversation, resulting House a little suspicious.

"I'll grab your bag okay babes?" Cuddy said once they got to his place. She quickly gathered his things and ran inside leaving him alone to go inside without any assistance, furthering his suspicion.

"Yeah, thanks babe," House called out rather loudly and in sarcasm. "Leave the poor crippled man who just got out of the hospital to get out of a car and climb some stairs alone."

"I'm sure you can make the three steps," He heard her laugh as he grabbed the railing.

House smiled as he eased his way up the stairs and took the few steps he needed, to take to get to his apartment, five doors from the entrance. He quickly noticed that Cuddy had left the door open and the lights off, although she probably did the latter since she had no spare hands.

Immediately, he began to feel for the light switch, only one foot away from the door. Once they are switched on, House is greeted with a large surprise, balloons, and the 'House watch' squad. The banner over their heads read "Welcome" and there were streamers and a table full of food. Cuddy quickly made her way back to him with a large, rectangular cake with the words written "We're glad you didn't bleed to death when you got shot" in crimson red icing.

"How touching," House couldn't help but be sarcastic.

"Just be happy for one night," Cuddy told him while getting a finger full of icing into her mouth and sucking it off.

"If you keep that up I definitely will." He joked.

The night was spent laughing and joking with the few close friends that came. After news about House traveled as far as PPTH, Wilson along with House's four past ducklings came down for his party, which of course, Cuddy completely organized. They exchanged short stories and House had a shockingly good time, no one seemed to have changed.

Chase was still his boring self, but he was recently named the head of surgery in Arizona, where he got back in contact with Cameron. He was just talking about the last surgery he had to perform where a man had a tumor in his leg, arm, and neck. It was miraculous how he didn't notice until it began to really swell.

Cameron was the same old head of the emergency room. The only exciting stories she had were ones about car crashes and stitching, none of which interested House.

Foreman became the new head of diagnostics at PPTH, like House had predicted. He hired three completely new ducklings and unlike House, he took all the cases and House didn't feel like listening to a bloody nose story.

Taub had gone back into plastic surgery and he and his wife seemed to patch up all their fixtures, though Taub did occasionally cheat. It still bored House.

House was a bit shocked that Thirteen had died so soon though. As he thought Foreman had decided to take care of her to her final breath.

Before anyone wanted to call it a night Wilson suddenly stepped forward with a box. House looked in confusion as he took the box and everyone smiled anxiously. He slowly opened it and flashed a smile when he saw the vintage cane with a padded handle and flames spiraling around the black wood. He showed his gratitude with a smile as he tried out his new present.

The night had started with crude jokes and old insults, and ended with a reminder of work on Monday and House and Cuddy alone after the party. Cuddy decided to, of course, fulfill her promise from the hospital once everyone was gone since House wasn't a complete asshole during the party and put up with stories she knew he would hate to hear.

"If you're not in the bedroom in five minutes I'm starting without you," She whispered before going to his room with an extra bounce in her step.

House smiled, put his new cane away for the time being and followed her hungrily.

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The weekend was ending all too soon and House watched as the woman he loved struggled to get her leggings on, she was still hazy from the weekend activities. She smiled when she had caught House eying her and she came over to him to give him a soft kiss. It was only Sunday, but it was almost midnight and Cuddy knew she had to go if she was going to get a decent hour of sleep.

House couldn't have cared less though. He was her boss and he was more than willing to let her off on a warning. He quickly trapped her in an embrace and held her close to him. Cuddy laughed.

"Let go," She begged as he held her against his chest. "I have to get home so I can show up to work on Monday."

"What if I don't want you to? Call in sick, I'm sure your boss will forgive you," House said as he began to kiss his way to her collar.

"I think my boss would care and Greg, you can't call in sick. Walters was just here Friday, she won't believe you," Cuddy bargained as she struggled to get away from his addictive kisses.

"For once, can't you just live in my fantasy world?" House asked her as he let her go and leaned on his elbow.

"And what happens in your fantasy world?" Cuddy asked, already knowing that it wasn't going to be full of daisies and roses. She sat down to put on her shoes and House sat up and engulfed her in another hug from behind.

"Picture this," He whispered in her ears as he kissed her neck. "You tied with fuzzy handcuffs, naked on the headboard, and calling me master."

Cuddy laughed as she playfully pushed him away and stood up. House landed on his back and gave her a joking growl.

"As romantic and tempting as that sounds I think I'll pass," She gave him a quick peck on the lips before grabbing her purse and making her way towards the door. "See you soon," She winked before leaving.

House watched after her with a satisfied smile. He sure was.

Nine hours later, House was finally able to walk into work. He had a happy smirk on his face as he limped in with a small glow. It soon began to disappear though as he turned towards his kiddies and found one missing, Cuddy.

None of them looked at him, instead motioned toward the desk. He quickly made his way towards it and found a letter, scribbled in Cuddy's quick handwriting. He picked it up and scanned each word before reading it more carefully a second time.

_House, I know this is probably going to hurt but I can't work for you anymore. It just won't work out that way and you know it. I still love you very much and I promise, I'll see you soon. I moved out of mom's place so I won't be there. I'm sorry, I just found a better opportunity._

_Love,  
Lisa_

On the bottom, right next to where she signed her name was a red mark that was made by her kissing the paper after applying fresh lipstick and House could smell the perfume she had sprayed on it. It was the perfume she was wearing all weekend.

He furrowed his brows and turned towards the door. "I guess you all won and have the job, we have the three finalists. Congratulations," He said in a dull, out-of-character voice. He then began to limp out, without another word, towards his office.

Later that day, during lunch, House was sitting at his desk with his feet on the table re-reading the letter Cuddy had left him. He called Lauren and she confirmed that Lisa moved and said she wanted to tell him where she lived but she was sworn to secrecy. But before hanging up she did promise that he would be seeing Lisa very soon.  
"Hey House," Vinson walked in and saw the paper once more in his friend's hand. "Look, Lisa loves you. She said so on the paper. Just chill man, she didn't go back to Jersey," House ignored his friend and focused on the letter. Maybe there was a hidden message he was supposed to depict. "I'm going down to get some lunch, you coming?" Vinson offered, for once.

"No," House declined the offer of free food. "I'm busy."

Vinson looked in amazement. "Wow, she really got to you." He said, not believing the day would come when his friend - the player, the heartbreaker, the pimp, the ladies man, man's man - actually got struck by woman. He sighed, nothing was going to get this man back on his feet, at least not immediately. He nodded before leaving silently to leave House on his own.

House sat in that seat almost all day. His new team worked on the case that Walters had brought up. He didn't notice, but there was a certain smile of satisfaction on her face that he would normally question, but not today. Today he was too distracted.

As the day turned back into night and his team slowly put together the puzzle pieces, House decided to call in early and go to the bar. He put on his jacket and placed the note, neatly folded into one of the pockets. As he stood there for a moment to collect his thoughts he felt a tug on his pants. He looked down, shocked to find a little girl he knew a little too well for his liking.

"Daddy," Rachel motioned for him to come down towards her. Somehow the traumatic events that happened just a few months ago seemed to have left her unscarred and as perfect an angel as always. "Come here, I have a secret," She smiled.

House, still shocked about seeing her, picked her up slowly. "Hey angel, what are you doing here? Why aren't you with mommy?"

"But I am!" Rachel exclaimed, that's when House noticed the three people in his differential room smiling.

"Rachel," House heard a familiar voice call from the door. He looked up and bit back a smile. "I thought I told you that you had to wait a few weeks and let daddy sweat." Cuddy smirked at him.

"What are you doing here?" House asked in shock as he handed Rachel over, not that he wasn't happy she was still standing before him.

Cuddy held out her hand. "Hello, I'm Dr. Lisa Cuddy, new Head of Endocrinology."

House chuckled as he shook her hand. "Dr. House, Head of Diagnostics, nice to meet you. If you ever need a tour I can always show you around since you're new."

Cuddy gave him a grin. "Ah, Dr. House, I've heard a lot about you," She chuckled, "I'm alright, I got to know this place well enough."

House looked at her once more before taking her into his arms and giving her a kiss on the lips. Cuddy smiled into the kiss.

"Don't you dare ever scare me like that again," House told her as he kissed her neck.

Cuddy had to repress a moan and push him away after she remembered Rachel was in her arms, giggling happily. "Would you punish me if I did?"

House smiled, "Maybe."

They shared one more kiss before leaving hand-in-hand. Everything was finally over.

* * *

**A/N: Sooo was that totally horrible :D LOL if it was SORRY but do tell so I can fix reampt it lol once again my god sister edited and she wanted me to mention the fuzzy handcuffs was her idea XD i was going to say chains because it was stuck in my head after reading another story. so yeaa**

**It was GREAT writing for you guys and I'm going to miss you guys all. Oh and Justine also said she is going to fart (just pay back lol) anyways, I should go before she makes my dog get her CHOCOLATE covered almonds (its a joke)**

**Please a final review and do be honest, if anything is wrong tell me ^^ I wont mind. :D LOL i'll change it and I crave criticism. You can be as harsh as you want  
**

**Oh one more important question for you guys though,**

**Do you think I should give up fanfic, like I announced a few chapters ago, or do you guys want me to continue? :) Hope to hear from ya  
**

**-Jess**

**P.S. If you guys wanna chat with me I have a skype, AOL, yahoo, Gmail and msn lol just about everything lol you can go to my page if you need the names :) It's great talking to you guys  
**


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